Four Derry-based young sports stars have been recognised for their great achievements last year as they were honoured at the 2016 Donegal Sports Star of the Year Awards.
Éadaoin O'Raw of City of Derry Swimming Club won the Swimming Award, Brett McGinty of Oakleaf A.B.C won the Boxing Award, Sean MacGettigan of the North Star Basketball Club won the Basketball Award, and Emily O’Connor, who trains with the Derry Shooting Starz Gymnastics Club, won the Gynmastics Award.
Swimming
Sixteen- year-old swimmer O'Raw from Buncrana, a 5th year student at Scoil Mhuire Buncrana, is a member of City of Derry Swimming Club, Inishowen Athletics Club and Northwest Triathlon Club.
In February, she won a gold a bronze in the Ulster Schools' Swimming Championships, and then attended an Ulster Schools Training camp in the Olympic Aquatic in London.
In June, Éadaoin competed in her first open water swims of the season, coming second in both the Lough Key 750m and 1.5k, Open Water Swimmer League.
She did further races in the Global Swim Series and is currently ranked 3rd in the 19 and under age group, non-wetsuit division, out of thousands worldwide,.
In July she competed in the Irish Age Groups in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, setting two PBs in the 50m Free and the 800m Free. She won a National Junior Silver in the Swim Ireland Open Water 10k in Lough Ree, and was first female home in the 1.5k Gartan Challenge.
In August in the Wild Atlantic Big Swim, from Arranmore Island to Burtonport (off Donegal), a distance of just under 4k, Éadaoin was first home in a time of 51 minutes, 25 seconds, a new record for the race. In October she was second in the junior female category in the Global Swim Series European Open Water Championships in Carlingford, Co. Louth. The next day, she won a bronze medal for Scoil Mhuire in the 100m Free in the Swim Ulster Schools' Cup and Championship.
Éadaoin has used her strong swimming ability to compete in three Sprint Triathlons, ending the year ranked second in Ireland in the 16 - 17 age group in the Junior Vodafone National series.
Basketball
Seán Mac Gettigan had a great season playing with North Star Basketball Club in Derry. He helped them to reach the quarter-finals of the National Cup, and was Team Player in the Under 20- National Cup. He was top scorer for the North Star U-18 team as point guard as they reached the BNI Semi-Finals.
A Special Olympics junior coach, the young Letterkenny man also captained the St. Eunan’s College, Letterkenny u-18 team to the All-Ireland play-offs. His dedication and commitment has seen him playing at the highest level of youth basketball in 2016, and he has won a number of awards.
He also represented Ireland at under-18 level in a European International Tournament in France.
Boxing
Brett McGinty, who boxes out of the Oakleaf A.B.C in Derry, is one of the north-west’s rising boxing stars. In February, St. Johnston boxer Brett McGinty recorded a fine win fighting for an Ulster team in Newport, Wales against the host nation. McGinty won a national title in the 69kg final at the National Stadium.
McGinty was selected to take part in the European Youth Championships in Russian, but missed out on a medal after losing to an Armenian opponent in a quarter-final bout.
In August, McGinty won his eighth Irish juvenile boxing title after his Welterweight Final against Paul Ryan from the Bay City Club in Dublin was stopped in the third round with the St. Johnston teenager being declared the winner by TKO.
Gymnastics
Emily O’Connor has been involved in gymnastics for eight years and has trained with the Derry Shooting Starz Club as well as the Letterkenny Community Gymnastics Club.
She won two gold medals and two silver medals at the Northern Ireland Gymnastics Valentine’s Open Competition.
She won gold medals in the area and county finals in Community Games and bronze in the Northern Ireland Gymnastics Open Competition.
She excelled in the vault, floor, bars, beam, and floor during 2016.
She also won medals in Shooting Starz and Letterkenny Community Gymnastic Club events, and won the Shooting Starz 2016 Hardest Worker Award.
Meanwhile, Eimear Toland, who plays with Na Magha, was nominated for the hurling award, while Adrian Delap, who plays for Derry City Reserves, was nominated in the soccer category.
This was the 41st staging of the awards, the biggest of their kind in any county in Ireland. Over 700 people attended the function in the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny last Friday. There were over 200 nominations for more than 40 awards. The overall 2016 Donegal Sports Star of the Year Award went to Letterkenny’s Sinead Jennings, who was a finalist in rowing at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
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