Brendan Hyland Among Swim Ireland Award Winners

Swim Ireland celebrated its athletes, volunteers and coaches at its annual awards ceremony last night, September 28th. Swimmers Brendan Hyland and Eoin Corby, along with coach Ben Higson were among those honored.

25-year-old Hyland placed was awarded the Performance Athlete of the Year (male) honor last night. Hyland placed 11th in the men’s 200m butterfly event at this summer’s World Championships in Gwanju, Korea, scoring a new Irish National Record of 1:56.55 in the process.

Hyland’s performance represented a vast improvement for the nation who didn’t send a 2flyer to Kazan back in 2015. Hyland was in Budapest, but was a non-factor at that point, producing 1:59.91 for 28th, so in 2 years’ time, the man has made major strides.

Junior swimmers Corby and Molly Mayne were named Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year for male and female, respectively. Corby made finals at both the European Junior Championships and World Junior Championships, setting 9 Irish Junior Records this season.

Mayne’s standout summer culminated with the teen snagging double bronze at the European Youth Olympic Festival in July.

Other award winners included; Ben Higson and Dave Malone, who were named Performance Coaches of the Year; Mary Dunne, National Volunteer of the Year; Aisling Beacom, Disability Swimmer of the Year and Liffey Swim winner Mark Hanley who received the Open Water Swimmer of the Year Award.

Speaking at the event Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane said ‘We are delighted to come together each year to celebrate the success of our athletes and to honor those that have helped them to get there. It is important to recognize all who are involved in the journey of our athletes and share and celebrate the success of the past year.’

2019 Swim Ireland Award Winners

Overall Club of the Year St Vincent’s WPC
Connacht Club of the Year Atlantic Masters SC
Leinster Club of the Year St. Vincent’s WPC
Munster Club of the Year Kenmare Bay SC
Ulster Club of the Year Ards ASC
Performance Athlete of the Year (Swimming) Brendan Hyland
Performance Athlete of the Year (Diving) Clare Cryan
Performance Athlete of the Year (Para Swimming) Nicole Turner
Special Recognition Award Shane Ryan
Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year Female (Swimming, Diving, Para) Molly Mayne
Performance Pathway Athlete of the Year Male (Swimming, Diving, Para) Eoin Corby
Performance Coach of the Year (Swimming) Ben Higson
Performance Coach of the Year (Para & Diving) Dave Malone
Performance Pathway Coach of the Year (Swimming, Diving, Para) John Szaranek
Team Coach of the Year Davy Johnston
Tesco Finest Club Volunteer of the Year (Connacht) Niki Henson
Tesco Finest Club Volunteer of the Year (Leinster) Jeff & Sue Phillips
Tesco Finest Club Volunteer of the Year (Munster) Mary Phelan
Tesco Finest Club Volunteer of the Year (Ulster) Ian Wright
National Volunteer of the Year Mary Dunne
Tesco Finest Disability Swimmer of the Year Aisling Beacom
Official of the Year Helen Desmond
Open Water Swimmer of the Year Mark Hanley
Masters Outstanding Achievement Award Francis McAlinden
Outstanding Contribution to Water Polo Shane Moraghan
President’s Award Jimmy Reilly
Hall of Fame Gary O’Toole
  Gerry Foley

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Rob
4 years ago

Great to see Gerry recognised once again, overcoming the disadvantage of being my first coach 🙂 to join the Hall of Fame.

Tupperware
4 years ago

Surprised Dean didn’t get a mention. How will He respond to this snub?

About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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