North Dublin Water Polo

So that's it for another summer. 10 Bollard Races over 3 months on the Bull Wall. It takes a lot of organising and a lot of effort from our swimmers to simply turn up and participate. As it happens we had one of our most popular seasons to date. We regularly had 30+ swimmers in each race which is a testament to the popularity of these races.

In this final race, we had the Basil O’Sullivan and the conditions were absolutely perfect. The sun was out and the water was flat calm. Martina Kelly calmed a maiden 1st place which ended the season on a Legend's win. In second place was Eoin Boyle, who also managed the same spot in our Swimmer of the Year contest. In 3rd place was Cormac "Sat Nav" Rolston. First Junior home went to Dylan Leggate.

We also had the prizes handed out for Swimmer of the Year. Our Swimmer of the Year Award went to Jamie Cope (we know, what on earth has happened ro sea swimming?) and our Junior Swimmer of the Year went to Amy McEvoy.

Many thanks to all involved in the season, Stephen and Eoin for organising the calendar, Stevie for ruling with an iron fist, Shea for handicapping and doe our team of many helpers over the summer. Thanks to Ciaran Cope for sponsoring tonight and thanks to Bernard Sweeney and Mick Cope for sponsoring the Swimmer of the Year awards. And of course thanks to all of our Swimmers☠️☠️☠️☠️

It was some night for the Cope family in our penultimate Bollard Race of the season, the Wilson 200, this evening.

Having seen Ray and Jamie claim a 1st and 2nd for the family on Sunday, the older generation decided they'd chip in. Club President, Frank Cope, claimed 1st place just ahead of his brother and Club Chairman, Mick in 2nd. Rachel Jackson kept up her good form this summer with a very respectable 3rd place to make up the podium spots. Fastest time went to (you guessed it) a Cope, with Brendan beating his cousin Ciaran by 4 seconds to claim the prize.

Many thanks to Neil and Eabha for sponsoring, I think we can all agree that the miniature Poolbeg chimney statue was a massive hot for 1st! And thanks to Shea and John for handicapping and timekeeping on the night.

We have our last Bollard Race, the Basil O’Sullivan, tomorrow evening at 7:45pm followed by the presentation of prizes and Swimmer of the Year. Hope to see you all there☠️☠️☠️☠️

We have our last two Bollard races of the season this evening and tomorrow evening with the Wilson 200 tonight and the Basil O’Sullivan tomorrow.

Both races will be starting at 7:45pm sharp so get there between 7:15 and 7:30pm and as always please answer the WhatsApp polls to confirm your intended participation so that we can have the handicaps prepared

We had the Mirrelson Cup this evening at a very choppy Bull Wall. So difficult were the conditions, we had one or two pull out at the start and one or two opt out entirely. For those hardy souls who chose to swim, it was a slog to say the least.

It was definitely a night for the back markers with the conditions too. Ray Cranley produced a terrific swim off 9 minutes to claim 1st. He was closely followed by his cousin Jamie who claimed his third 2nd place of the season, this time off 10 minutes. Gavin Nolan came in in 3rd just behind Jamie off 8:30.

Well done to all who swam, it was definitely our toughest of the summer. Many thanks to Dave McLoughlin and John Wood for stepping in to help with handicaps and timing in Shea's absence and thanks to Eoin Boyle for sponsoring ☠️☠️☠️☠️

Do you have a child that is interested in taking up swimming and water polo? Our Academy starts back up on September 1st! The Academy has seen great success since it's inception and that was highlighted last week when we seen 5 graduates make the u13 National Training squad.

If you are interested in signing your child up, please contact the email address below:

[email protected]

Such has been the growing success of our Academy, we are continuing to see improvements in the kids weekly and those improvements are leading to more and more achievements. Fresh off a runners up spot in the U12s Irish Cup, we now have 5 of that squad called up to the Training squad for the National Team.

Well done to Daisy Serman, Armandes Zibas, Eoin Carroll, Luka Flanagan and Luadhan O'Shea on their call ups. It's an incredible achievement and well deserved after all of your hard work👏🇮🇪

We had another successful Bollard Swim on the Bull Wall tonight with the Lenny Byrne Cup. The conditions were a little choppy but not severe enough to cause any major issues for our swimmers.

In 1st place we had Stephen O'Brien who very poignantly spoke about how Lenny got him into water polo in his speech. However, that wasn't the real talking point. You see our Shaggy wore his signature super suit and Mr. Handicapper, Shea, hadn't accounted for this. This set Shea off into a mini rant in his announcing of the winner much to the amusement of those in attendance 🤣 Sarah Robertson claimed her first podium place in a Bollard with a 2nd place finish and John Rohan claimed 3rd. Fastest time went to Grant Carroll for the second race in a row.

Thanks to the Byrne family for sponsoring, thanks to Shea for handicapping and to John Wood and Dave McLoughlin for helping out☠️☠️☠️☠️

It looks like it's going to be a cracker for this evenings Bollard swim! We have the Lenny Byrne Cup up for grabs at 8pm. Lenny was a major fixture within the Club in his day and we hope to see plenty of people down to swim and spectate.

We will be meeting between 19:15 and 19:30. Don't forget to answer the WhatsApp poll to confirm your intended participation so that we can have Handicaps ready☠️☠️☠️☠️

We had a beautiful evening down on the Bull Wall this evening for the Leddy Cup. The water was relatively calm the the sun occasionally popped out. It was a race to remember for our Juniors too.

We had a number of Juniors take on the race with the help of Stevie Nolan as their guide. For most it was their 2nd Bollard and their previous experience showed. Dylan Leggate cruised home to win by a distance. A first of many for him we're sure. Dylan's fellow Junior, Sophia De Andrea, was next to the post with a brilliant 2nd place. Paul Byrne was next in in 3rd place to bring up the average age (significantly😜)

Well done to all of our swimmers. Special thanks to the sponsor, Jimmy Seery, to Shea for the handicaps and to our helpers on the day at the shelter and in the kayak☠️☠️☠️☠️

We have another of our Bollard swims tomorrow evening on the Bull Wall with the Leddy Cup up for grabs.

We will be starting at 18:00 so meet at the Grey Shelter between 17:15 and 17:30. Please respond to the WhatsApp poll to confirm your intended participation so that we can have the handicaps ready to go ☠️☠️☠️☠️

We had two outstanding swims at the LOS 1.9km swims today in Portmarnock. With this being a non-handicapped race, it was fastest first and North Dublin had the fastest swimmer in the Men's and Women's Races.

Rachel Jackson proved just how reliable she can be in the sea with an excellent swim to claim the Ladies title and Stevie Nolan got the best of a sprint finish to claim first in the Men's. Well done to both👏☠️

It was a day to remember for the Ladies GOAT in the Halpenny Cup Bollard Race on the Bull Wall today. With the weather indifferent, a day after the Harbour and the choppy conditions, it was always going to be a smaller turn out than usual but we still a few hardy souls brave the swim.

The Ladies GOAT, Annie McMenamin, put in a brilliant swim (with the 3rd fastest time overall) to claim 1st place on the day. Considering she's won everything else, it was about time that she claimed a Bollard race. A very popular winner indeed. With the aforementioned choppy conditions, it was no surprise to see Jamie Cope claim 2nd place with the overall Fastest Time on the day in his favoured conditions. Gavin Nolan came in in 3rd spot to make up the podium. Fastest Time outside of the prizes went to Fionnan McMenamin who was 2nd fastest overall.

Many thanks to Shea for handicapping, to Luca, Catherine and Eimear for assisting on the day. Special thanks to the Halpenny family for sponsoring the race, it's always nice to have the family the Cup is named after around to sponsor the race☠️☠️☠️☠️

We have the Halpenny Cup up for grabs on this Bank Holiday Monday. It should be a cracker of a swim with our exploits in the Harbour behind us.

The race takes place at 14:00 so we'll be meeting at 13:30 in the Grey Shelter as usual. Please respond to the WhatsApp poll as usual to confirm your intended participation so that we can have the handicaps ready.

Well on a day when many changes were afoot, one thing remained the same, North Dublin were amongst the prizes. So with all the politicking going on in the background (we're completely on the fence BTW and just want the swims running so our athletes can swim), the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Swim went ahead today.

Our usual band of swimmers took to the sea with their usual vigor, enthusiasm and high handicaps (in the case of one swimmer who'll we'll mention later). In the Ladies swim, Dervilla Bailey claimed an unbelievable 2nd place. For someone new to the Club like Dervilla, claiming a big podium spot like that is their perfect way to solidify your spot in ND lore. Just ask Justin Synott, etc. Welcome to the top of the table Dervilla, we're sure you'll be more than able to put up with the inevitable abuse that comes with being a newbie and placing.

In the Men's swim, former winner, Karl Wilkes, led the way for ND with an 8th place finish. Karl was propped up by Ray Cranley and the eternal Bernard Sweeney (seriously the man is forever in these lists, even as he gets older), so there was just one place left to make up Team prize. It looked like all hope was lost but then came in the athlete of all athletes. A late entry to the race and subsequently lumped with a 20:00 handicap, the final piece of the puzzle was a wildcard to say the least.

And who was this Daniel Wiffen-esque speedster you ask? Well none other than Senior Coach, Stunning Stevie Nolan. The most unathletic looking athletic monster out there, complete with his baby grow produced a mammoth swim (just ask Mick Kelly about the supersuit. Stunner used it to beat him in the Island earlier this summer) to claim a place not high enough to report here but high enough to clinch team prize for the Men🤣 Our hero.

Well done to all of our swimmers and to the organisers on the day. Hopefully we can see plenty more of our swimmers at these open water swims and placing well like today☠️☠️☠️☠️

What a night we had for our final night in the Baths this summer. The sun was out and with it, so were the swimmers.

We had the Junior swims 1st with James Mangan Jr. claiming the Scully Cup in the U12s race. Armandas Zibas and Kyle Nolan made up 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the AP McKay Cup, James' sister Sophia claimed 1st. Sophia was closely followed by Boris Kaipov in 2nd and Eoin Carroll in 3rd.

In the adults event, the Cosgrove Cup, we had a close Final. With this race being 80m as opposed to 40m, it really opened up the field to the faster swimmers. Fionnan McMenamin took 1st with a brilliant swim. He was in just ahead of Ciaran Cope in 2nd. They were followed in by Mark Hanley in 3rd.

Many thanks to the sponsors on the night (the Tuite family, Stephen O'Brien and James Mangan and Grant Carroll) and to Shea and Woody for the help on the night and of course to all of our swimmers. And that wraps up our sprint race series for 2024. There's still a few Bollards to go in the Bull Wall so keep your eyes peeled for updates☠️☠️☠️☠️

It looks like it will be a cracking evening for our final night in the Baths this summer. This evening we have the Cosgrove Cup up for grabs as well as two separate races for our Junior section.

Whilst the Junior races are the usual 40m format, the Cosgrove stands out as it is an 80m race. That means two lengths of the Baths!

As usual we will be meeting at 8pm. Please respond to the WhatsApp poll if you haven't already done so to confirm your intended participation. We hope to see you all there☠️☠️☠️☠️

It was a glorious evening in the Clontarf Baths tonight, despite it threatening to be a rainy one all day. And the weather clearly helped as we had our largest field of swimmers this summer with over 40 competing. And that is a fitting tribute to the Men that these two Cups are named after in Liam Mortimer and Gerry Murray. Two Club stalwarts in their day and two men who made outstanding contributions to our Club.

In the Liam Mortimer we had a first time winner with Cormac Rolston storming home to claim his maiden victory. Conor McMenamin was hot on his tails in 2nd place and Amy McEvoy took 3rd.

In the Gerry Murray, it was a night that saw uncle and nephew scrap it out for 1st and 2nd. It looked like Mick Cope's experience would win out but his nephew Sean had other ideas and pipped our Chairman to the win. No mercy as Mick himself would say! Iris Reddington came in a very close 3rd.

Thanks to Shea for handicapping the races, thanks to the Mortimer family a s to Ossie Conboy for sponsoring and thanks to all of our swimmers. It was truly a night both men would have been immensely proud of☠️☠️☠️☠️

Two big races in the Clontarf Baths tonight with two of the most sought after Cups up for grabs in the Liam Mortimer and Gerry Murray Cups.

We will be kicking off at 20:00 as usual. Please respond to the WhatsApp polls to confirm your intended participation so that we can have Handicaps ready☠️☠️☠️☠️

It was a lovely evening down in the Baths tonight despite the sun not making an appearance. The Lyon and O'Kelly Cups were up for grabs. We had a great turnout too with over 30 swimmers.

In the O'Kelly Cup it was our Junior section that made up 1st and 2nd with Callum Sheilds in 1st and Dylan Leggate in 2nd. Bringing up the average age with a photo finish for 3rd was Jamie Cope.

In the Lyon Cup, Luca Rohan took 1st (after a VAR check to make sure he didn't break!) with Karl Ball taking 2nd place. Jason Doyle kept up the trend of 3rd place bringing up the average age.

Thanks to our sponsors, the Cookes and the Lyon family and to Karl Wilkes for standing in as handicapper. And of course thanks to all of our swimmers☠️☠️☠️☠️

Races Tonight: Lyon and O'Kelly Cups
We have the Lyon and O'Kelly Cups up for grabs in the Clontarf Baths from 20:00 this evening. Please answer the WhatsApp polls to confirm your intended participation so that we can have the handicaps ready☠️☠️☠️☠️

Another evening, another brilliant turn out for one of our Bollard swims. We had 27 swimmers out tonight in what was admittedly a dull bit warm night for the Wilson 400 Cup.

Stevie Nolan produced a brilliant swim off 7 minutes to claim 1st place. The race for 2nd and 3rd were more hotly contested with Eoin Boyle recovering from a bad line to take 2nd and Damien Kelly just taking 3rd ahead of Ciaran Cope.

Many thanks to our Sponsor Jason Doyle, to Shea and Brenda for helping on the evening and of course to all of our swimmers. We'll see you all tomorrow in the Baths for the Lyon and O'Kelly Cups☠️☠️☠️☠️

We have the Wilson 400 Cup up for grabs this evening on the Bull Wall at 8pm. Please meet between 7:15 and 7:30.

Please answer the WhatsApp poll to confirm your intended participation so that we can have Handicaps ready☠️☠️☠️☠️

We had a lovely evening on the Bull Wall yesterday evening for the Tom Cope Cups. It is our only Club swim that has a Men's and Women's Cup so it was very well attended with over 35 swimmers on the evening.

Iris Reddington was 1st overall, claiming the Ladies Cup. James Reid was next in in 2nd place overall to claim the Men's Cup. Sofia De Andrea was 3rd overall to win 2nd prize and Sarah Mortimer claimed 3rd with her 4th place finish. Fastest time went to Lara McEvoy and the special prize for 1st member of the Cope family home went to Ciaran Cope.

Special thanks to the Cope family for sponsoring and to Shea, Hannah, Woody and Dave McLoughlin for helping on the night and of course to all of our swimmers☠️☠️☠️☠️

We have the Tom Cope Cups tonight on the Bull Wall at 6pm. We will be meeting between 5:15 and 5:30 at the Grey Shelter.

As always please answer the WhatsApp poll to confirmed your intended participation so we can have the handicaps ready to go. We hope to see you all there☠️☠️☠️☠️

We had another successful night in the Clontarf Baths tonight and the weather even managed to hold up. Up for grabs were the Boland (Presidents Prize) and the Hannigan Cups. These are two of the most prestigious Cups in the Club with the Hannigan being our flagship prize.

In the Boland Cup, it was looking like a night for the Juniors, only for one of our Legends to pull it out of the bag. Paul Byrne rolled back the years to claim a memorable win, pipping Juniors Kyle Nolan (who very nearly made it 2 wins in as many weeks) and Zara Doyle in 3rd.

The Hannigan was a tighter affair for 1st and 2nd which made a great spectacle for those in attendance. It looked for all the world that Jimmy Seery would claim the win only for him to be pipped on the touch by Eoin Boyle, who claimed his 2nd Hannigan win matching his father Pabo's record. Last year's winner, James Reid took 3rd place. There were two prizes for those outside of the podium with Daisy Serman claiming 1st Junior and Hannah McMenamin claiming 1st Lady.

A special mention must go to the Hannigan family who have taken to sponsoring the Cup again in the last few years and turned up in great numbers to spectate and present the prizes. Many thanks to all of our swimmers and to our other sponsor, our President, Frank Cope. We will see you all on Sunday for the Tom Cope Cups on the Bull Wall at 6pm☠️☠️☠️☠️

We have the Hannigan and Boland Cups up for grabs in the Clontarf Baths tomorrow evening from 8pm.

Please respond to the WhatsApp polls to let us know of your intended participation so that we can have the Handicaps ready to go☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

More action shots of our swimmers and volunteers today at the Jim Kavanagh and Plunkett McAlister swims

We had a great morning swimming-wise and weather-wise for the Jim Kavanagh and Plunkett McAlister Cups today on Portmarnock Beach.

In the Ladies race, Niamh McCarthy of Sandycove claimed the Plunkett McAlister Cup. North Dublin made up the rest of the podium places with Rachel Jackson in 2nd and Dervilla Bailey in 3rd. This pushed the ND Ladies to a brilliant team prize with Jenny Mulry and Claire Gorman making up the other places. The fastest swimmer was Abby Cunnigham of Kilkenny. The winner of the wetsuit category was Vanessa Fenton of Eastern Bay and the winner of the Under 18 category was Corvie Reyes of Glenalbyn.

In the Men's race, Phelim May of Swan Leisure SC took home the Jim Kavanagh Cup. He was closely followed in 2nd by our very own Eoin Boyle, who of course scooped up the prize for 1st ND man home. Dave Cherry of the Garda SC finished the podium places in 3rd. Team prize went to NAC with Martin Graham leading the charge in 4th place and teammates Lorcan Tully, John McCarthy and Neal O'Rourke making up the 4. Fastest time went to Ben Moran of Aer Lingus. The winner in the wetsuit category went to Eoin Tully. The winner of the Under 18s category was Sean Monaghan of Half Moon.

Well done to all 252 swimmer and many thanks to our volunteers on the day. Also many thanks to Gilna Opticians for sponsoring the race ☠️☠️☠️☠️

We have our annual Jim Kavanagh and Plunkett McAlister races tomorrow morning on Portmarnock Beach. These races are part of the LOS race series and count as qualifiers for the Major swims.

The Plunkett McAlister (Ladies swim) is up first at 11:30. This will be followed by the Jim Kavanagh (Men's swim) at 12:30.

Best of luck to all swimming and we hope to see you all there☠️☠️☠️☠️

It was an evening where our Juniors shone in the Clontarf Baths when the sun decided not to!

In the Gillespie and Malachy Farren Cups, all six podium places were occupied by Junior members who have progressed from our Academy. Truly a sign of the hard work paying off for athletes and coaches alike.

Final Results:

Gillespie trophy :
1st : Kyle Nolan
2nd : Dylan Leggate
3rd : Sofia D’Andrea

Malachy Farren Cup :
1st : Senan Leggate
2nd : James Mangan
3rd : Callum Shields