ARAGLIN GAA

- League game on Saturday -

The junior B footballers have a division 3 league game on Saturday next (Feb. 21st) in Fermoy at 4pm. Players are requested to be in Fermoy in good time for the fixture. Those who are unable to attend should contact coach Tony White well in advance.

With Fermoy’s first team playing at intermediate level, their second string will provide stern opposition. Fermoy have plenty of young players coming through and they will want to make an impact.

We should approach the game in a serious frame of mind and endeavour to give a good account of ourselves.

TRAINING

At this stage players should be back in training, as with the above notice it’s only courtesy that players not in a position to attend should make it their business to inform their coaches (Tony White, football – Denis Twomey, hurling). Once the coaches and selectors know what’s happening they will be better placed to pick their team.

The same applies to the U21 football squad, which is being looked after by Dooner. This championship is only a month away and it’s vital that everyone puts in the effort.

LOTTO JACKPOT WORTH €7,000

It’s business as usual on the lotto front. No jackpot winner has emerged to date. At last week’s gathering the numbers drawn were: 04, 05, 14 and 19. Lucky dips of €20 each went to: Breeda Kenneally, Lyreen, Araglin; Tom Kenneally Sr Barnahown, Araglin; Nora Sheedy, Glenroe, Co. Limerick and Catherine Mannix, Kilworth.

Supporters of the lotto should note that tickets are now being sold in Tony O’Flynn’s shop, Kilworth. The club are delighted with Tony’s support in this regard. As with our Araglin outlets - Allen’s Hardware, Fitzgerald Hurleys and Christys - a poster containing the lotto numbers will be displayed every week in Tony’s shop. As these are all independently owned businesses we would urge our members to support them.

Also best of luck to Ballygiblin/Mitchelstown GAA Club with their new lotto.

INTERESTING LOTTO STORY

The Bride Rovers GAA Club lotto worth €12,200 was won recently by Lisa Maher from Mitchelstown. The Fermoy Rugby Club lotto worth €12,600 was also won last week – by Bride Rovers GAA Club – nice one.

QUIZ NIGHT APPROACHING

The club intends organising a table quiz in Christy’s on Friday night, 27th February - more details to follow.

CORK GAA CLUBS' DRAW

We had no winner in the January draw. There is still a long way to go and hopefully we’ll come good in the coming months. Once again a word of thanks to everyone who supports this draw.

RACQUETBALL TOUNAMENT

2008 was a good year for the racquetball court and 2009 hasn’t been bad either. By popular demand a knockout tournament is currently being organised – names without delay to Jim Kenneally or Moss Reidy.

CUP WIN FOR ARAGLIN CELTIC

Araglin Celtic recorded a famous win over Kilworth rivals Accrington Celtic last weekend (result 2–1). Shane Hannon and James Kearney were the Araglin scorers. It’s a pity the Araglin club don’t submit reports to the local press – the team sheet and a brief run down on the game would suffice.

WELL DONE NINA

Local couple Mike and Nina Hynes will be looking forward to their next bank statement. In what was a fantastic result they won €95,000 in the Winning Streak game show.

MICK LEAHY - A JOB WELL DONE

We’d like to say well done to Mick Leahy – the chairman of Avondhu Point-to-Points for his role in organising last week’s races in Knockanard. A great servant of the club in the past Mick still keeps an eye on things in Araglin.

Clarification Last week’s notes contained reference to a recent bereavement without mentioning who the deceased was. The notice referred to the late John, better known as ‘Jackie’ Hennessy, Killeagh Road, Castlemartyr who passed away in Cork University Hospital on January 29th.

His next of kin locally are the Kenny family (Macroney), the Browne family (Ballinamadough) and the Kenneally family (Barnahown). The deceased was also a relative of John Hennessy, former principal in Colaiste an Chraoibhin, Fermoy.

FERMOY SWIMMING CLUB

- Swimming made simple -

The aim of these notes is to enlighten people of all ages on the various aspects of swimming, be it competitive or leisurely as is possible and also to explain how galas (swimming competitions) and the Fermoy Swimming Club functions. Also once a fortnight a profile on some of the top swimmers past and present in the world.

COMPETITIVE SWIMMING

The goal of competitive swimming is to be the fastest over a given distance. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century, and comprises 36 individual events – 18 male events and 18 female events, however the IOC only recognizes 34 events – 17 male and 17 female events.

Swimming is an event at the Olympic Games, where male and female athletes each compete in 13 of the recognized events. Olympic events are held in a 50 metre pool. Competitive swimming’s international governing body is FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation), the International Swimming Federation.

The four competitive strokes are the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and front crawl (freestyle).

“Freestyle” and “front crawl” are often used interchangeably, but “freestyle” properly refers to an unregulated competitive event rather than to any particular stroke. Swimmers generally choose to swim front crawl in a freestyle event since it is the fastest stroke.

In events that require specific strokes, disqualification will occur if the stroke is not swum correctly, for example if the swimmer does not touch the wall with two hands during breaststroke or butterfly.

These strokes can be swam individually or together in an individual medley (IM). The IM order is: 1) butterfly, 2) backstroke, 3) breaststroke, and 4) freestyle. There are two types of relays: medley and freestyle. The medley relay has a different stroke order.

In the medley, the order is: 1) backstroke, 2) breaststroke, 3) butterfly, and 4) freestyle. Each of the four swimmers in the relay swims a predetermined distance, dependent on the overall length of the relay.

The two relay distances are 200 metres, 400 meters. In a 50 metre pool, each swimmer swims one length for the 200 relay, two lengths for the 400 relay. In a 25 metre pool, each swimmer swims two lengths for the 200 relay, four lengths for the 400 relay.

Many full-size competition pools in Europe and the United States have a length of 50 meters and a width of 25 yards (the Olympic pool size, allowing both short course (25m or 25yd pool) and long course (50m pool) races to be held.

The nearest one in regards to Fermoy Swimming Club is in UL Limerick. Well worth a visit if you have never been there, being only one of two in the Republic. The other been the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.

There are several types of official: A starter sends the swimmers off the blocks and may call a false start if a swimmer leaves the block before the starter sends them; Finish judges determine the order of finish and make sure the swimmers finish in accordance with the rules (two hands simultaneously for breaststroke and butterfly, on the back for backstroke, etc.).

Turn judges check that the swimmers’ turns are within rules; stroke judges check the swimmers’ strokes; timekeepers time the swims; the referee takes overall responsibility for running the race and makes the final decisions.

If an official catches a swimmer breaking a rule concerning the start, stroke, turn or finish he or she is swimming, that swimmer is said to be disqualified (commonly referred to as a “DQ”) and the swim is not considered valid.

Masters swimming is a club sport for adults (from 19 – 100 or older!) who have a competitive spirit, or just like to improve their fitness in the company of their own peers.

A lot of masters swimmers come from a competitive background but on the other hand some haven’t. Swimming at this level differs from competitive club swimming. The age groups are organized into five-year increments.

But most of the events stay the same. Swimming has continually been identified as the best way to exercise. Stress reduction, weight control, cardiovascular fitness, reduced cholesterol, muscle tone and endurance are all positively influenced by exercise.

But swimming is not entirely injury free. Shoulder injuries are the most common because of the repetitive motion of freestyle, butterfly and backstroke. Knee injuries often occur from breaststroke due to the unnatural kick. Incorrect stroke technique can also lead to injuries, unfortunately a lot of these injuries can apply to all swimmers of all ages.

But proper technique training with gradual build up to the distances can help reduce these greatly.

WORLD WIDE FAMOUS SWIMMERS PRESENT AND PAST

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) “The Baltimore Bullet” is an American swimmer. Home club, Club Wolverine, University of Michigan. He has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian.

By the end of 2008, he held seven world records in swimming. Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics with the eight golds he won at the 2008 Olympic Games.

With this record, he surpassed American Mark Spitz, who had held the previous gold medal record with the seven that he won at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Overall, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008.

In winning these medals, he has twice equalled Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin’s record of eight medals (of any type) at a single Olympics; Dityatin garnered eight at the 1980 Olympics, while Phelps won eight medals at both the 2004 Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Out of his eight gold medals from Beijing, five were won in individual events, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equalled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Games.

Phelps ranks second in total career Olympic medals, after Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won a total of 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games.

Phelps’s international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Phelps has won a total of 48 career medals thus far: 40 gold, six silvers and two bronze.

This includes all of the championships in which he has competed: The Olympics, the world championships, and the Pan Pacific championships. In 2008 Phelps won Sports Illustrated magazine Sportsman of the Year award.

GRANGE FERMOY ATHLETIC CLUB

- Great running despite cold conditions -

QUANTUM HEALTH/DUNGARVAN 10 MILE ROAD RACE

The Quantum Health/Dungarvan 10 mile road race, hosted by West Waterford AC, and part of the John Buckley Sports Munster road race spring series, was held on Sunday, 1st February last. The weather forecast lived up to expectations, being freezing cold with a biting wind coming in off the water.

The venue for the race was changed this year, with the start being near the Dungarvan Sport Centre, much more convenient for car parking and with adequate changing and showering facilities after the race. The goody bag on offer was quite substantial, with a very nice long sleeved t-shirt, which came in very handy for the cold conditions.

In spite of the cold day, there was an unbelievable entry of 896 athletes from all over Munster, and indeed, from all over Ireland, proving once again how popular road running has become.

It seems that everyone is into the fitness kick and road running is a great way to keep fit. With an entry of this size, it was only to be expected that the fight for top spots would be tough, and it was.

West Waterford AC’s popular athlete Sandis Bralitis showed the field a clean pair of heels winning this race in a fabulous time of 00.51.36, with Michael Herlihy of North Cork AC not too far behind in 00.52.25, and Colin Merritt of Carraig ba bhFear coming home in 3rd place in 00.53.21.

Grange Fermoy Athletic Club was represented by a strong team of 10 athletes in the men’s race, with Michael Lyons, on leave from his studies in the UK, leading the side home to finish in 17th position in this prestigious race.

Next home for Grange Fermoy Athletic Club was Brian O’Connor finishing in 1.02.07, with club veteran Maurice Tobin finishing well in 1.05.12, and gaining a 3rd place in his O55 category.

Also enjoying great runs for Grange Fermoy Athletic Club on the day were John Fitzgerald, 1.09.31, Billy O’Regan, 1.10.04, Peter Walsh 1.10.13, John Griffin 1.11.51, Mike Ennis, 1.13.09, Darren Flynn, 1.17.19, and club O65 athlete Tony Dunne at 1.25.55.

In the women’s race Rosemary Ryan of Bilboa AC was an easy winner here, breaking the tape in 00.57.27, just ahead of international star Pauline Curley of Tullamore Harriers, who finished in 00.58.51, with M Dorney of Thurles Crokes 3rd in 1.61.02.

Grange Fermoy Athletic Club had just two athletes in the women’s race, these being Joan Ennis who had a fabulous run to finish in 1.18.20, and club O60 athlete Maggie Dunne, who finished 2nd in her O60 category on the day.

In spite of the horrendous conditions, the race went off very well, thanks to West Waterford AC, who put in a lot of work to ensure its success. Refreshments after the race were excellent, with plenty of grub available to warm up the freezing cold bodies.

Congratulations to all the athletes who took part, and thanks to the stewards and officials for all their hard work.

BHAA NEWS

The next race under BHAA rules will be the ESB 5k, registration at Blackrock Community Centre, on Sunday, 1st March. The race commences at 11am sharp, so please be very early to register on the day.

BALLYCOTTON 10 MILE ROAD RACE/JOHN BUCKELY SPORTS 10 MILE CLASSIC SERIES

At last the full list of Ballycotton 10 competitors is up on the website, so we can all stop holding our breath. It looks as though the entry this year is up to 3,660 which, if everyone actually turns up, might pose a few problems on the day.

But we hope for the best, knowing that the well-oiled machinery that is the Ballycotton organisation is used to record breaking entries, and things do seem to go smoothly for them, thank goodness.

WOMEN'S FIT4LIFE MEET AND TRAIN

The group is meeting each Tuesday evening at about 7pm, at the St Colman’s sports field on College Road. Everyone is welcome to come along and walk with the group, either at a leisurely pace, or we can jog along, depending on how you feel.

Details from Maggie Dunne on 086 399 0604. If you want to progress from walking to running this can be arranged, just let Maggie know.

FERMOY HANDBALL CLUB

- Two Fermoy boys on juvenile county team -

Fermoy have two boys on the Cork juvenile county team. In U13 doubles Kurt Bowes, Fermoy won last week defeating Limerick and his partner was A Kerins from Ballydesmond. They now play Waterford in Mallow and the winners will play in the Munster final on Sunday, February 22nd.

Last Saturday in Fermoy our other juvenile player Arthur McDonagh U17 singles had a good win against Waterford’s Ross Domford and the winner is in the Munster final also on February 22nd in the county finals.

Fermoy handballers took home two gold and eight silver medals. Arthur McDonagh and Kurt Bowes with gold and Colm Hurley, Jack O’Brien, Shane Ahern, Conor Clancy, Ryan Ahern, Eric Stapleton, E Cody and Patrick McDonagh taking home silver.

In the adult section Alan O’Dwyer, Fermoy will be playing with Brendan Fleming, Ballydesmond in intermediate doubles against Clare’s Fergal Coughlan and Declan Frawley. This game will be played in Mallow on Wednesday, February 18th.

On Friday night, February 20th in Fermoy at 8pm Michael Jordan senior, Fermoy will play the Munster final against Pat O’Brien in the over 65 group. On Saturday night Arthur McDonagh and Tom McDonagh, Fermoy will play in the Munster final.

Their opponents are not known yet and venue to be decided, John McDonagh, Fermoy had to give best to John Kiersey from Kilworth in the Munster final last week in Conna. John Kiersey goes on to the All Ireland semi-final. Best of luck to John.

The club would like to pay tribute to a handballer who was very much in top in the sixties, James Tobin, John Anderson’s Place. Jimmy who played most of his handball in the old 60x30 court mostly known as Baylor’s Alley. His partner playing Fermoy was the late Robert McGrath.

They won county senior doubles titles. Jimmy representing Cork in doubles when his partner was Pat Cody. They reached the Munster final, Jimmy was always interested in the club affairs and success since he retired some years ago.

The club would like to express our sympathy to Jimmy’s wife Kathleen, his daughter Susan and his son-in-law Kieran and granddaughter.

Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.

KILWORTH SQUASH CLUB

- Charlie Mac’s division 4 team still top despite first loss -

CHARLIE MAC'S DIVISION 4 MUNSTER SUALSH LEAGUE TEAM

On Thursday, 5th Feb, our division 4 team took on Silversprings at home. This match ended in a 5-0 win for the Kilworth lads and each game was won by a scoreline of 3-0. We are sure it will be a lot tougher when we play Silversprings in the return game.

On the night Trevor, Conor, Aidan, Marc and Brian all played superbly and carried out their jobs as well as we could have expected. On Feb 12th we suffered our first defeat away to Highfield, the home team were very strong on the night. The five Kilworth lads who played on the night gave it everything they had.

Conor Cooney won his game in a thrilling 3-2 encounter with the Highfield captain. Trevor Slattery and Kieran Walsh both took a point in losing 3-1 to very solid opponents. Kieran was playing very well when his racket broke and this threw him off his stride.

Sean O’Brien was up against a very strong number 4 player and on the night lost 3-0, but with a bit of luck Sean would have nicked a game or two in what was a very close match.

Marc Gallagher lost 3-2 in the game of the night. Marc played a super match and ultimately only lost by two points, but we’ll move on from this setback and hopefully will get back on the winning trail very soon.

We have no game this week, but we have 2 games next week – away to Midleton B on 24th Feb and home to Midleton A on 26th Feb. All are welcome to the home game to cheer on the lads.

NOVICE DIVISION LEAGUE

The Munster squash men’s novice division league is scheduled to commence on Wednesday, 4th March. This league is intended for players new to competitive league squash or with little previous experience of same.

Please advise if you are interested in entering this league as we hope to have a team to enter this competition. Finalised panels will need to be submitted by Friday, February 27th, so if you are interested let Trevor or Conor know urgently on the contact information below.

LADDER

The ladder competition is taking shape. Trevor Slattery has jumped to number 2 in the list and is now chasing Dave Ronayne. Marc Gallagher has been the biggest mover, he now has his sights set on the top 5. Noel Flynn also has climbed one spot from 12 to 11 with a win over John Sheehan.

Players are invited to challenge the player immediately above them or the player two places above them to a match. On completion put the score up on the notice board and the result will be processed instantly.

COACHING SESSIONS

The 35 min coaching sessions are up and running now, the more the merrier in terms of participants in these sessions in the court on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

All are welcome contact Trevor or Conor on the numbers below.

NEW MEMBERS

Anyone interested in getting involved please call Trevor (086-9477210) / Conor (086-8239754) or e-mail trevor@slatterytravel.ie / Conor.Cooney@arup.com

There will be a competition starting in March, which will include all the newcomers. All welcome.

MITCHELSTOWN BOXING CLUB

- 7 County titles for boxing club-

Mitchelstown Boxing Club has been very busy over the last 2 weeks with almost all of our boxers in action at various events and tournaments.

On Friday, 6th Feb, Frank and Vladimir Belujsky were invited to take part in St Colman’s 25th anniversary tournament in The Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel in Youghal. Frank was up against the more experienced William Condon from St Colman’s Boxing Club. Frank’s good movement and defence ensured a 5-0 lead in the first round.

Condon was forced to chase in the 2nd round and Frank who was in excellent form. Then Condon woke up on the canvas wondering what had happened after Frank caught him clean with a right cross ending the fight. Vladimir was up against Mark Flaherty of St Colman’s Boxing Club and although he boxed well found himself 5-1 down at the end of the first.

In the second Vladimir looked more settled and with good use of the jab won the round 5-3. Vladimir tied the 3rd round 4-4, but was at the wrong side of a 14-8 score.

Our next tournament was the women’s Munster championship in Limerick City at St Francis Boxing Club, which was held on Sunday, 8th February. We had Clara Kirby, Maria Kirby and Ioana Mera competing.

Clara had the most difficult fight when she came up against Nicole Meli the current Irish champion from Belfast. Clara showed great heart and may have lost the fight, but her performance might just be enough to put her on the Munster team.

Next up was Maria and she was up against Claudia Enright of Rathkeale Boxing Club, the current Munster champion. At the end of the 1st round Claudia lad 2-1. The second was also low scoring with Maria losing out by a point and in the third both girls stepped up the pace and really let go. Unfortunately Maria lost the third round by 1 point and the fight by 3, but a very good display by Maria.

Finally Ioana Mera was up against Nicole Finnegan of St Nicholas Boxing Club. Ioana put the pressure on right from the start and built up a big 7-1 lead at the end of the first round. In the second round Ioana kept up the pressure.

With a minute to go in the second round Ioana caught Nicole with a right cross followed by a left hook forcing Nicole’s corner to throw in the towel ending the fight in Ioana’s favor.

We would like to wish all three girls the best of luck on Sunday, 22nd February as they have been invited to St Francis Boxing Club, Limerick for trials for the Munster boxing team.

On Sunday, 8th February we travelled to Leeside Lough Boxing Club for the weight-in for the Cork county championships.

This year we entered 10 boxers, which took place on the 9th, 10th, and 11th February in the Glen Boxing Club in Cork. It was a bit of a struggle making sure not to have more than one of our boxers in the same weight class but with much determination from the boxers we were successful in doing so this year.

On Monday we had four boxers competing. First up was Danny Keating who fought in the boy 1 39kg against Liam Purdy from the R/town Boxing Club. An outstanding start to the county championships, this was an excellent bout for Danny who took charge from the bell, winning every round.

Next up we had the boy 2 36kg where we had Ryan Sexton competing. Ryan was up against Jake Phelan of the Glen Boxing Club. After going behind in the first it was always an uphill battle but battle he did winning the second round and in the last round he was leading with 30 seconds to go but Jake caught him with a lovely combination to win the bout 9-7.

Third up for Mitchelstown Boxing Club was Patrick McDonagh who boxed in the boy 2 42kg up against Chris Hourihan. This was easily one of the fights of the night and in the end Patrick won the bout comfortably 14-8.

Last up on the night was Vladimir Belujsky in the boy 3 54kg up against Shane Condon of Leeside Lough. Vladimir took the centre of the ring for the whole three rounds and never looked in trouble, winning this semi-final 15-2.

On the Tuesday night we started with Danny Keating in his semi-final boy 1 39kg fight against Shane Purcell which he won on a score of 14-6 to secure his place in the final. Next up was Patrick McDonagh in the final against Gearoid Purlan - this was a cracker of a bout between two experienced boxers with the judges scoring the bout 9-8 in Gearoid’s favor.

Next Vladimir Belujsky also in the final against Mark Flaherty was up against it as Mark beat Vladimir by five points only one week previously. He reversed this and won 14-4. Vladimir seems to have found his form at the right time with the Munster championships only around the corner.

On the Wednesday night the final of the boy 66kg Youth 2 we had Arthur McDonagh boxing Louis McCarthy from the Glen Boxing Club and from the first bell these two big hitters didn’t disappoint.

Arthur lost on a count back - again another strange decision as I thought Arthur had done more than enough in the last round to win, thankfully he will get a chance to make things right at the Munster championships this Saturday in Limerick. The last fight of the night was Danny Keating in the boy 1 39Kg final - without doubt the hardest category of the competition.

But he won all three rounds comfortably and judging on this performance will be hotly tipped for a Munster title at least.

After the recent championships we can count the following as county champions - Youth 1, 71kg Frank Belujsky, boy 3, 54kg Vladimir Belujsky, boy 1, 39kg Danny Keating, boy 1, 48kg Anthony O’Donnell, youth 1, 48kg Maria Kirby, girl 3, 46kg Ioana Mera and girl 3, 44kg Clara Kirby. That was 7 county champions out of a possible 10 and 2 runner-up.

So with the same 10 boxers representing Mitchelstown in the upcoming Munster championships and judging from their performances we will be expecting good things from the boxers of Mitchelstown Boxing Club.