Ireland’s Ciara Doran won silver in the 1000m at the Ice Swimming World Championship which was held in Murmansk, Russia last weekend. Irish swimmers also won one silver and two bronze medals in their age categories at the World Championship.
18-year-old Doran, who is from Galway, finished just under four seconds behind winner Alisa Fatum from Germany. Hanna Bakuniak from Poland won the bronze medal.
In all, 93 swimmers from 22 countries took part in the third ever International Ice Swimming Association World Championship which was held in a temporary 25m swimming pool carved out of Murmansk’s frozen Lake Semenovskoe.
The event, which took place between March 14th - 17th, also saw Murmansk host the first ever Arctic Cup in which Ireland claimed eight medals.
A team of 12 Irish swimmers travelled to Russia, eight taking part in the World Championships and ten in the Arctic Cup. Between the two competitions, a total of 400 swimmers from 33 countries competed in freezing water temperatures of 0℃ in Murmansk, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle.
The Arctic Cup featured six individual events of shorter distances for both men and women.
Ciara Doran also won overall gold in the Arctic Cup 200m Freestyle.
“It was always my dream to represent Ireland on the world stage,” said Doran.
“To stand on the podium with the tricolour and being presented with the gold medal was a dream come through. After I was awarded the gold medal, I hugged my dad and we both cried. I felt like all my hard work was worth it.
“I train twice a day in a pool, Monday to Saturday, plus gym sessions. Last year was tough. Between injuries and exams it was both physically and mentally demanding.
“I've been fortunate to have good coaches along the way that inspired me and family to support me.”
Ireland’s Patricia Heffernan, who won gold in her age category for the Arctic Cup 500m Freestyle, received a special award for being the first deaf swimmer to complete an ice swim at 0℃.
Full results of Irish swimmers at Ice Swimming World Championships:
Ciara Doran (Galway)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - 2nd place overall and silver medal winner in her age category
Arctic Cup
200m Freestyle - 1st place overall and gold medal winner in her age category
50m Freestyle - 3rd place overall and bronze medal winner in her age category
50M Butterfly - 5th place overall
Julie-Ann Somers (Dublin)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - silver medal winner in her age category
Arctic Cup
500m Freestyle - gold medal winner in her age category
Deirdre King (Kildare)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - bronze medal winner in age category
Arctic Cup
100m Breaststroke - silver medal winner in age category
50m Breaststroke- silver medal winner in age category
John Ryan (Limerick)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - bronze medal winner in his age category
Arctic Cup
500m Freestyle - silver medal winner in his age category
Tiffiny Quinn (Dublin)
Arctic Cup
500m Freestyle - silver medal winner in her age category
Patricia Heffernan (Dublin)
Arctic Cup
500m Freestyle - gold medal winner in her age category
Olive Conroy (Armagh)
Arctic Cup
200m freestyle - 8th in her age category
50m Breaststroke - 4th in her age category
Mollie Conroy (Armagh)
Arctic Cup
50m Breaststroke - 7th in her age category
Paddy Bond (Donegal)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - 15th in his age category
Arctic Cup
100m Breaststroke - 4th in his age category
50m Freestyle - 11th in his age category
50m Fly - 5th in his age category
Colin Lindsay (Armagh)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - 5th in his age category
Patrick Corcoran (Dublin)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - 13th in his age category
Mark Dempsey (Limerick)
World Championship
1000m Freestyle - 14th in his age category
Featured image credit: Ian Conroy
