For complete coverage of the NCSA All Star Team trip to the Irish Nationals, click here.
DUBLIN, Ireland, May 1. THE third night of action at the Irish Long Course Nationals featured some exciting finishes throughout. Great Britain's Georgia Davis, however, had the only world-ranked time of the evening.
Davis topped the women's 50 back in a quick time of 28.85. That effort moved her into the top 20 in the world rankings, moving into 19th just ahead of Whitney Ireland's 28.88 from March. Cindy Tran, swimming unattached as part of the NCSA All Star trip to save eligibility for her high school season, finished second in 29.95. Ireland's Aisling Cooney, who owns the Irish record with a 27.12, finished third in 30.09.
NCSA's Clay Youngquist claimed his second title of the meet with a 51.60, just knocking off Great Britain's Jak Scott, who finished second in 51.64 in the men's 100 free. Ireland's Conor Leaney took home third place with a 51.72, while NCSA's Daniel Tucker also cleared 52 seconds with a fourth-place 51.91.
In the second consecutive close contest, NCSA's Sarah Denninghoff touched out teammate Maddie Locus, 57.27 to 57.30, for the women's 100 free title. Clare Dawson, the Irish record holder in the event (56.32), finished third with a 57.42.
Irish national record holder Barry Murphy dominated the men's 100 breast with a swift time of 1:02.70. That performance finished just a second back of his national mark of 1:01.76 set last year. NCSA's Kevin Cordes edged teammate Nick Manousos, 1:04.10 to 1:04.40, for second-place honors.
In yet another exciting finish, hometown favorite Fiona Doyle clipped Great Britain's Hannah Miley, 1:11.89 to 1:11.92, at the wall of the women's 100 breast. Miley initially looked to have won, but the scoreboard told a different story. NCSA's Sarah Haase grabbed third overall in 1:12.19.
In longer distance competition, Great Britain's Andy Hunter easily won the men's 400 free with a swift time of 3:56.79. NCSA's Matt Barber finished second in the event with a 4:00.83, while teammate Youngquist picked up his second podium of the night with a 4:01.54. Ireland's Andrew Meegan snatched fourth with a 4:05.04 after winning both distance events earlier in the meet.
Great Britain picked up the middle distance sweep when Megan Gilchrist cruised in the women's 400 free with a swift 4:13.31. Ireland's Clare Dawson picked up second-place honors with a 4:17.86, while NCSA's Rachel Naurath pocketed third in 4:19.26. Ireland's Sycerika McMahon, 15, wound up fourth in 4:19.32.
In the sprint backstroke, NCSA's Philip Aronica cleared 27 seconds to win the men's 50 in 26.91. Ireland's Colm Downing finished second in 27.28, while Jordan Sloan grabbed third in 27.41.
After suffering a defeat in the women's 100 breast, Miley responded with a strong finish in the women's 200 back with a title-winning time of 2:16.12. Denninghoff, who won the 100 free earlier in the night, finished second in 2:17.18, while Ireland's Grainne Murphy took third overall in 2:18.71. Davis, who already won the 50 back qualified fourth in the 200 with a 2:19.40 during prelims. She chose to scratch the finale.
NCSA's John Conger, who prefers to be called Jack, threw down an impressive time for a 15 year old to win the men's 200 back. Conger clocked a 2:03.38 for the win. For some context, the Irish national record in the event is a 2:04.36 by Karl Bundis last year. NCSA went 1-2-3-4 in the event. Michael Covert (2:07.47), Matt Belecanech (2:09.37) and Preston Jenkins (2:09.58) completed that sweep.
NCSA swept the top three spots in the women's 400 medley relay with Caitlyn Forman, Anne Lazor, Kinnear and Denninghoff claiming the overall title in 4:14.83. The NCSA also went 1-2-3 in the men's 400 medley relay. Aronica, Manousos, Sean Fletcher and Tucker picked up the win in that race with a 3:48.43.
In semifinal action, NCSA's Kathryn Kinnear (1:01.14) and Haley Sims (1:01.65) led the way in the women's 100 fly. Steven McQuillan, the Irish national record holder with a 54.67, posted a 56.25 to pace the men's 100 fly.
