Niamh Kilgallen produced a remarkable few days of elite swimming in December

THE CONNAUGHT TELEGRAPH YOUNG SPORTS STARS OF THE YEAR NO. 23:

 

CLAREMORRIS swimmer Niamh Kilgallen smashed the Irish record in the 200 IM that belonged to Olympian Sycericka McMahon with a remarkable performance in the finals of the Irish Senior Short Course Championships in Lisburn.

Her time of 2.11.13 took one second off the record that which McMahon set in 2012, and it was such a complete swim by the Leaving Cert student that it would have placed her seventh in the European Senior Championships the same weekend.

In a remarkable few days of elite swimming by Kilgallen in December, she also won gold in the 100m freestyle with a Connaught record time of 55.12 and in the 50m freestyle in a time of 25.90. She took silver medals in the 100m breaststroke with a Connaught record of 1.07.81 and also silver in the 100m butterfly in another Connaught record of 1.00.03.

Her time of 1.59.10 in the 200m freestyle was also the fastest of the championships but because she swam it in the B final she did not receive a medal for it. She also swam the second fastest time of the finals in the 200m breaststroke in 2.27.56 but scratched from the final to preserve her energy for the 200m freestyle final.