Ireland Wins Four Medals At Ice Swimming World Championship

Ireland Wins Four Medals At Ice Swimming World Championship
PJ Browne
By PJ Browne
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Ireland’s Ciara Doran won silver in the 1000m at the Ice Swimming World Championship which was held in Murmansk, Russia last weekend. Irish swimmers also won one silver and two bronze medals in their age categories at the World Championship.

18-year-old Doran, who is from Galway, finished just under four seconds behind winner Alisa Fatum from Germany. Hanna Bakuniak from Poland won the bronze medal.

In all, 93 swimmers from 22 countries took part in the third ever International Ice Swimming Association World Championship which was held in a temporary 25m swimming pool carved out of Murmansk’s frozen Lake Semenovskoe.

The event, which took place between March 14th - 17th, also saw Murmansk host the first ever Arctic Cup in which Ireland claimed eight medals.

A team of 12 Irish swimmers travelled to Russia, eight taking part in the World Championships and ten in the Arctic Cup. Between the two competitions, a total of 400 swimmers from 33 countries competed in freezing water temperatures of 0℃ in Murmansk, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic Cup featured six individual events of shorter distances for both men and women.

Ciara Doran also won overall gold in the Arctic Cup 200m Freestyle.

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“It was always my dream to represent Ireland on the world stage,” said Doran.

“To stand on the podium with the tricolour and being presented with the gold medal was a dream come through. After I was awarded the gold medal, I hugged my dad and we both cried. I felt like all my hard work was worth it.

“I train twice a day in a pool, Monday to Saturday, plus gym sessions. Last year was tough. Between injuries and exams it was both physically and mentally demanding.

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“I've been fortunate to have good coaches along the way that inspired me and family to support me.”

Ireland’s Patricia Heffernan, who won gold in her age category for the Arctic Cup 500m Freestyle, received a special award for being the first deaf swimmer to complete an ice swim at 0℃.

Full results of Irish swimmers at Ice Swimming World Championships:

Ciara Doran (Galway)

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World Championship

1000m Freestyle - 2nd place overall and silver medal winner in her age category

Arctic Cup

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200m Freestyle - 1st place overall and gold medal winner in her age category

50m Freestyle - 3rd place overall and bronze medal winner in her age category

50M Butterfly - 5th place overall

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Julie-Ann Somers (Dublin)

World Championship

1000m Freestyle - silver medal winner in her age category

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Arctic Cup

500m Freestyle - gold medal winner in her age category

Deirdre King (Kildare)

World Championship

1000m Freestyle - bronze medal winner in age category

Arctic Cup

100m Breaststroke - silver medal winner in age category

50m Breaststroke- silver medal winner in age category

John Ryan (Limerick)

World Championship

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1000m Freestyle - bronze medal winner in his age category

Arctic Cup

500m Freestyle - silver medal winner in his age category

Tiffiny Quinn (Dublin)

Arctic Cup

500m Freestyle - silver medal winner in her age category

Patricia Heffernan (Dublin)

Arctic Cup

500m Freestyle - gold medal winner in her age category

Olive Conroy (Armagh)

Arctic Cup

200m freestyle - 8th in her age category

50m Breaststroke - 4th in her age category

Mollie Conroy (Armagh)

Arctic Cup

50m Breaststroke - 7th in her age category

Paddy Bond (Donegal)

World Championship

1000m Freestyle - 15th in his age category

Arctic Cup

100m Breaststroke - 4th in his age category

50m Freestyle - 11th in his age category

50m Fly - 5th in his age category

Colin Lindsay (Armagh)

World Championship

1000m Freestyle - 5th in his age category

Patrick Corcoran (Dublin)

World Championship

1000m Freestyle - 13th in his age category

Mark Dempsey (Limerick)

World Championship

1000m Freestyle - 14th in his age category

Featured image credit: Ian Conroy

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