Swimming starlet Gibbons qualifies for European championships

ATHLONE'S Brendan Gibbons has become the first local swimmer to qualify for the prestigious European Junior Long Course Championships since the amalgamation of ACES and Rags brought about Athlone Swimming Club ten years ago. Following in the footsteps of Retreat duo Julian Dooley and Shane FitzGerald, who qualified for the event back in the eighties, Gibbons' achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider his age. At just 16, the Athlone Community College Leaving Cert student technically has another year to qualify for the European Juniors, but managed to do so this year after a fabulous performance at the recent Irish National Long Course Championships in Dublin. Gibbons will compete in the 800m freestyle category after finishing a whole ten seconds (8mins 33secs) inside the qualifying time at the Irish Nationals. Earlier this year, Gibbons smashed the Irish Short Course 800m freestyle record in Lisburn, and at the most recent Gala in Dublin, he also set new Connacht senior and junior freestyle records in 400m, 800m and 1500m races. Gibbons will now represent Ireland at the European Junior Championships in Antwerp, Belgium from July 4 to 8. The Athlone swimmer is certainly on the up, and coach Johnny Powell was full of praise for Gibbons following his latest achievement. "It's a long time since Athlone has had a European Junior Championships swimmer, it's in the region of 20 years. He's the first to qualify for the event since the local clubs amalgamated ten years ago, and it's another fantastic achievement for Brendan. Not only is Brendan a hugely talented swimmer, but he's also a brilliant ambassador for Athlone Swimming Club. He's a shining example to all our young swimmers of what can be achieved with hard work and commitment. He has fantastic potential and it's great to see it come to fruition," Johnny said. The Garnafailagh native, a son of Celine and John, was also recently promoted from Ireland's Youth Development High Performance Squad to the senior High Performance ranks, and trains with the squad in Dublin every week. Brendan could also still qualify for the 1500m freestyle event in Antwerp when he competes at another Irish Gala in the coming weeks. "It was fantastic to see Brendan qualify for the 800m freestyle at the last Gala in Dublin, but I know he remains determined to make the 1500m freestyle in Antwerp as well," said Johnny. "At the last Gala, he missed out on qualifying for the 1500m freestyle in Antwerp by two seconds, but you have to consider Brendan is doing his Leaving Cert, and all the pressures that brings. There's no reason why he can't still make the 1500m freestyle in Antwerp, but I think he can be more than satisfied to have already made the 800m," added Powell. Such is the recent level of Gibbons' performances that many observers are already tipping him as a serious prospect for the 2016 Olympic Games. Johnny Powell was unwilling to put any necessary pressure on Brendan in this regard, but did stress that Gibbons "most certainly has the ability and potential to make the Olympics", and that more and more training over the coming years will make him a strong candidate for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.