TWO top swimmers in the county have been selected for the Swim Ireland National Panel Performance Pathway.
Lakelanders swimmers Cora Rooney and Ellie McCartney are to receive special training when they join Ireland’s brightest prospects which include current and prospective international champions as they are guided towards upcoming events like the 2021 Europe and World Junior Championships.
Their long terms sights, though, will be set on the 2024 and 2028 Olympic qualification.
It is McCartney’s second time to be selected for the squad. At 15, and with 14 national titles to her name, she is one of the youngest on the panel.
In the reduced 2019/20 season she won the Ulster senior and junior 200m breaststroke title for the second year in a row as well as winning the 100m breaststroke title in the B final at the Dave McCullagh International meet and the Irish Sport Course.
Rooney specialises in the 50m, 100m and 200m backcrawl and has qualified for the Nationals in recent years. She holds 15 national medals in Irish Community Games. At the age of nine she began Swim Ulster Development and qualifying meets where she showed her talent and determination from the outset with qualification for Division 2 Nationals in Limerick which led to Summer National Swimming Championships in 2015 and each year since where she regularly made the podium with medal success.
Selected onto Ulster Academy Squad in 2017/18, she was then chosen for the Ulster Regional Squad 2018/19, 2019/20 and has now been selected onto Ireland’s National Squad 2020-21.
Lakelanders head coach Aaron Rickhuss hailed Ellie and Cora’s success saying, “Having two of our athletes on the Swim Ireland National Squads represents the depth of talent that comes from Enniskillen. Being part of this squad is a great achievement as well as part of these athletes journey to reach their ultimate goals in swimming.”
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