Wallace pupils depart for Sheffield

This weekend sees 11 Wallace pupils depart for Sheffield to take part in the UK School Games.

This multi-sport event takes place from September 12-15 and aims to prepare the young athletes for future high level sporting competitions.

Jasmine Kirkwood and Jane Kilpatrick (girls’ hockey), alongside Scott McCabe, Andrew O’Hare, William Carey and Jordan Taggart (boys’ hockey) will compete against the hockey sides from England, Scotland and Wales on the actual Olympic pitch used for the hockey in the London 2012 Olympics. This, as part of the legacy of the London Games, has been transported to Sheffield.

Rachel Bethel represents the swimming team after a busy, but highly successful summer. In July she travelled to Holland to the European Youth Olympic Festival as the only 13 year old Irish swimmer to have qualified and competed against the best underage swimmers in Europe. Her results were excellent with a fifth place overall in the 200 metre freestyle and top 12 finishes in the 100, 400 and 800M freestyles. She travelled to the British Age Group Championships and retained her 2012 title in the 100 metre freestyle, as well as becoming a double British champion in the 200 freestyle. A silver medal was also achieved in the 400M freestyle to cap an outstanding gala for Rachel. In addition to all this she has swam a Commonwealth Games consideration time in the 200 metre freestyle and has recently been included in the Northern Ireland potential Commonwealth Games squad.

Ikenna Nzewi enjoyed a successful summer as he represented both Ulster and Irish Schools’ in Athletics in various sprint events. He, alongside distance runner Jonathan Whan, will now represent Northern Ireland at the UK School Games in the Don Valley Stadium, whilst Ryan Getty (badminton) and Graham Malley (judo) will also hope to continue their excellent form from last season in their chosen sports in Sheffield.

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