The Swim Ireland Irish National Winter Championships (25m) took place last weekend at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre, Dublin.

National Centre Ulster swimmer Ellie McCartney returned from the meet with medals in every event entered, a brand-new Irish title in 100m Butterfly, the fifth-fastest Irish woman and another Irish Senior Club relay record.

The three-day event saw almost 500 swimmers from more than 90 clubs and teams, both Irish and overseas, compete in the first National Championships of the 2022/2023 season.

The entire event was streamed live and hosted by RTÉ’s John Kenny and former swimmers David Thompson and India McGlynn.

At the first session the Enniskillen native got off to a blistering start, qualifying for the 100m Breaststroke final and then the Final of the 100m Freestyle with a fantastic new PB of 56.45.

Then, along with her Ards teammates, they broke the Irish Senior record they set last year and won gold in the 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:44.03.

During the finals later that evening, Ellie broke the 1:09 mark in the 100m Breaststroke for the first time, finishing third for an overall bronze medal and a silver junior medal.

Some 20 minutes later, Ellie returned for the 100m Freestyle Final, finishing in a very creditable fifth-fastest in Ireland position, and she received a silver medal for the second-fastest Junior.

Day Two saw the local swimmer compete in the 50m Butterfly, a new event for her at this level, and her favourite 200m Breaststroke.

Ellie qualified as the third seed for the Final of the 50m Butterfly with a 1.4 second PB, and as the third seed in the 200m Breaststroke.

The 17-year-old returned to action in the Final of the Fly to swim next to Irish Olympian Ellen Walsh, and finished in second position with another PB in a time of 27:45, receiving a silver medal behind Ellen, who swam to a new Irish Senior Record.

Later in the session, Ellie bettered her third-place seeding and finished with an overall Open and Junior/Silver Medal in the 200m Breaststroke with another PB of 2:26.50.

The final day saw Ellie competing in more new events at the top level; 50m Free and 100m Butterfly.

In the morning, the Ards team came together again to win gold in the 4x50m Medley Relay, with the NCU swimmer participating in the Breaststroke leg.

In the evening sessions, McCartney pitted herself against the fastest females on the island in the 50m Freestyle, finished fifth overall, and received a Silver Medal for second-fastest Junior.

This performance was followed up with her best swim of the week in the 100m Fly, where Ellie beat her PB for the second time that day to win gold in the event, becoming the Irish Champion in a time of 1:00.39. She was also presented with the Junior Gold while on the podium.

National Centre Ulster Head Coach Kevin Anderson, who is just completing his first full year in the job, was excited with how Ellie and the rest of the centre swimmers competed over the meet: “17-year-old Ellie McCartney swam best times in everything but most notably a 108/226 in the Breaststroke ... Really awesome group of athletes to coach and support team to work with.”