Sycerika McMahon wins nine gold medals: 2011 Irish Long Course National Championships
The 16-year old Sycerika McMahon has stunned the Irish world of swimming by occupying nine gold medals at the 2011 Irish Long Course Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Abbotstown.
McMahon demonstrated her great swimming skills to conquer nine gold medals in the events of 50m breast-stroke, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 100m breast-stroke, 400m Individual Medley (IM), 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m IM and the 50m freestyle.
On the first day of the championship, LEA’s McMahon won her first gold medal in the 50m breast-stroke, where she dominated the event by her unmatchable performance of 32.74 seconds. Lisa Comerford and Niamh Bryson climbed the podium for the silver and bronze
medal, clocking a time of 35.60 and 35.63 seconds, respectively.
Moments later, she earned her second gold medal of the championship in the 200m freestyle by clocking a time of 2:00.79 minutes to stay ahead of Melanie Nocher and Niamh O Sullivan, who earned silver and bronze medals in 2:01.35 and 2:03.52 minutes, respectively.
Sycerika stunned the crowd when she grabbed her third gold medal on the first day of the championship by touching the wall first in 2:15.82 minutes. Lorna Cummins and Gillian Gavaghan followed her on the podium for the silver and bronze medal clocking a
time of 2:17.75 and 2:23.25 minutes, respectively.
Her triple gold performance on the first day of the championship made her the arena’s favourite. The second day of the championship went without the participation of McMahon.
Then, McMahon appeared on the swimming blocks on the third day of the championship, participating in the 400m IM. She added another gold medal to her tally when she produced a wonderful swim of 4:51.56 minutes that was comfortably ahead of her following
swimmer. Shani Stallard earned a silver medal behind McMahon with a timing of 4:58.73 minutes. Saoirse McGrath followed them on the podium for the bronze medal by touching the wall in 5:14.56 minutes.
McMahon earned her sixth gold medal of the championship in the 400m freestyle, where she displayed a dazzling effort of 4:17.39 minutes. She was almost a second away from Niamh O Sullivan, who touched the wall in 4:18.17 minutes for silver medal. They were
followed by Nuala Murphy with a timing of 4:25.97 minutes.
On the last day of the championship, McMahon once again added three gold medals to her medal's roster. At first, she conquered the top of podium for the 100m butterfly, clocking a time of 1:02.06 minutes for the gold medal. She was followed by Shauna O’
Brien and Shauna Smith, who secured the podium for second and third position with a timing of 1:02.41 and 1:02.57 minutes, respectively.
She earned her eighth gold medal of the championship in the 200m IM, where she posted a time of 2:17.09 minutes and was comfortably ahead of the Bethany Carson and Saoirse McGrath, who touched the wall for silver and bronze medal in 2:20.81 and 2:26.45 minutes.
The 16-year-old Irish completed her medal tally with her ninth gold medal in the 50m freestyle. Sycerika touched home with a timing of 27.22 seconds to earn the gold medal. Aisling Cooney and Melanie Nocher followed her on the podium for the silver and bronze
medal in a time of 27.27 and 27.33 seconds respectively.
The Irish has given the hopes to her fans for a remarkable performance at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai and the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games. In addition, her performance at the Irish Championships has enhanced the level of sports in the
country.
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