(L-R). Amelie Carolan, Evan McMahon, Susan Meehan, Oisin O’Grady, Leana Liddane, Ferdia Hayes, Elin Blake, Jude Collins, Aoibh Blake.
NINE Clare athletes made a splash at the European Lifesaving Championships held in Poland.
All nine currently work as beach and pool lifeguards in Co Clare. They competed with distinction over seven days showcasing their elite skills against the best in Europe. All athletes train with Clare Water Safety in White Strand Miltown Malbay and Ennis, they are all members of the Ennis Swimming and Lifesaving Club.
Flying the flag for Clare and the country were Amalie Carolan, Jude Collins, Aoibh Baker, Elin Baker and Ferdia Hayes all of whom hail from Ennis, Lahinch’s Susan Meehan and Evan McMahon, Oisin O’Grady from Kilmurry in Sixmilebridge, Lerdia Liddane of Carrigaholt
Competition began in the pool with SERC in which the junior men’s team came fifth with Jude on the team and a sixth place finish for the senior men’s team with Ferdia, Oisin and Evan all involved.
Among the standouts in the pool competition was a new national record in the senior womens 4x25m mannequin relay team set by Leane and the Bakers. Leane then went one better smashing her own Irish record in the 100m mannequin toe slicing an impressive two seconds of her previous time clocking in at 1:02.
On the beach, Clare’s representatives really stood out. In the senior women’s beach sprint relay Leana and Susan powered Team Ireland to a European silver medal finish in the A final .
Meanwhile in the junior boys sprint relay Jude and his Irish teammates surged past the competition to claim a spectacular European Gold earning Ireland the title of junior boys sprint relay European champions.
More gold followed as Leana and her board partner Aisling Barry dominated the senior ladies board rescue final securing another European title. This is Leana’s second gold in this event at European level having previously won it in 2023 along with a world silver medal in Italy in 2022 .
Remarkably just minutes after her board rescue victory, Leana returned to the water to claim a silver medal in the senior women’s surf swim showing extraordinary endurance and determination.
On the final day of competition, Leana capped off her championship with a third silver in the gruelling ocean woman event, the sport’s most demanding race combining swim, board, ski and running disciplines. Her medal haul now stands at an incredible 11 European medals including 4 gold European titles , world silver medal and multiple national records.
There were narrow misses for Oisin, Ferdia, Amalie, Elin and Evan on medals in the board races, rescue tube relays and board rescue events.
