Hyland and Coyne mop up titles at Irish Open
TALLAGHT and National Centre swimmers Brendan Hyland and Niamh Coyne were among the big performers at the 2019 Irish Open Championships at the NAC last week.
The former again delivered, starting with a superb performance to claim the National 200m Butterfly title for the eighth year running, breaking both the Irish Senior and Irish Open Championship records in the process.
Brendan Hyland broke more Irish senior records at the Irish Open. (Photo by David Kiberd)
Indeed the National Centre competitor’s finishing time of 1:57.21 knocked .17 off his previous best of 1:57.38 set at the same event in 2018.
Hyland took his second National gold and second Irish record in as many days when he contested the 200m Individual Medley, serving up an outstanding swim that saw him shave more than half a second off James Brown’s 2017 record of 2:02.09.
He clocked 2:01.52 for top spot on the podium ahead of Bangor’s Jack McMillan (2:02.98) and National Centre Limerick’s Cillian Melly (2:03.84).
Hyland then went top of the podium for the third time with gold in the 100m Butterfly in which he clocked 53.07.
His impressive times have contributed to the possibility that Ireland may well field 4x200m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley Relay teams in this year’s World Champion-ships.
Meanwhile in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke Final, 17-year-old Niamh Coyne clocked an impressive 1:07.94, to finish more than two seconds ahead of closest competitor, Scotland’s Hannah Miley (1:10.24) with Aer Lingus’ Aisling Haughey third in 1:10.61.
Tallaght SC’s Niamh Coyne made it a hattrick of wins. (Photo by David Kiberd)
Her performance has placed her in contention for a berth on a Ireland Mixed Medley Relay team that could well be fielded in the World Championships this year.
The Tallaght swimmer doubled up on her gold medals in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke, clinching the National title in 2:30.09 just behind Scotland’s European, World and Commonwealth Games medallist Hannah Miley who clocked 2:29.40.
Coyne completed a hat-trick of Irish Long Course honours across the 50, 100 and 200m events when she touched home in 31.91 in the former.
Delighted with the performance the country’s leading swimmers, National Performance Director Jon Rudd said ““We have a number of swimmers that have now put their hats in the ring for our National Teams this summer, including that of the World Championships in Korea, the meet where we will focus very much on Olympic relay qualification.”
