July has been a month of firsts and accomplishments for many Northern Irish athletes! We kicked off the month with an exciting event—the WOMEN’S WORLD CUP! The Irish Women’s team had a fantastic opening game against the host country, Australia. During the second game against Canada, Katie McCabe scored Ireland’s first goal of the tournament from a corner kick! It has been truly inspiring to witness these women compete at an international level, and we can’t wait to see them in action again at the Aviva when they face the Northern Irish Women in September.
Throughout July, Northern Irish athletes have been making their mark all over the world. Danielle Hill, Victoria Catterson, and ten other Irish athletes travelled to Japan for the World Aquatics Championship. Hill and Catterson delivered strong performances in their respective individual events, with Hill making it to the semi-finals in the 50 Backstroke. Moreover, Victoria, Danielle, Mona McSharry, and Erin Riordan joined forces to set a new Irish record in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay with an impressive time of 3:41.75. Beyond the World Championships, Ellie McCartney showcased her talent at the 2023 LEN European Juniors in the 200IM, securing the third spot on the podium with a time of 2:14.31. We are thrilled to continue following these incredible women representing Ireland. Additionally, we are looking forward to Bethany Firth’s participation in the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships, which commence next week and promise to add to the exceptional swimming performances we’ve seen this summer.
In case you missed it, the Monaco Diamond League hosted one of the best mile races of all time. Ciara Mageean set a new Irish women’s mile record of 4:14.58, slashing almost three seconds off Sonia O’Sullivan’s previous record of 4:17.26, set in 1994. The race was a spectacular display of personal bests, national records, and even a world record for almost all the participants! Notably, the British Millars Meet at the Mary Peters Track on the 19th featured impressive runs as well, including a competitive women’s 800m. Lauren Roy (City of Lisburn) took first place in 100m at the meet a well adding to her competitive summer following the European Championships last month.
Earlier this month, the third instalment of the Rowing World Cup saw three Northern Irish Women competing. Rebecca Edwards, as part of the Women’s Eight for GB, won Gold. Hannah Scott earned silver in the women’s quad sculls, and Rebecca Shorten secured a bronze in the women’s four—both representing the GB team. The upcoming World Championships in Belgrave in September will provide an opportunity to qualify for the Paris Olympics, and we are excited to see potential additions to the Northern Ireland members competing in the next Olympics.
Ulster has been ablaze with excitement as the finals of all-Ireland games are scheduled for next month. Antrim claimed their first-ever U16 All-Ireland LGFA title after defeating Clare with a score of Antrim 3-12 Clare 1-6, despite challenging windy conditions. At the junior level, Down advanced to the final by beating Carlow in the semi-final with a score of 1:9-0:8. This will be Down’s first trip to the final since 2014, and they will face Limerick on August 13th at 11:45. In Camogie, Derry emerged victorious against Kilkenny in the semi-final stage of the Glen-Dimplex Intermediate All-Ireland Camogie Championship. They will now take on Meath in the Final at Croke Park on August 6th at 2:45. Throughout this championship season, plenty of other Ulster-based teams made it to the quarterfinal and semi-final stages at all levels, making it a thrilling and competitive season for women’s sports. We wish all the girls the best of luck in the final!
As always, we are committed to adding to the number of role models, and we had the pleasure of chatting with role models from various sports this month, including Victoria Catterson from Swimming, Erin McConnell from Triathlon, and Anna Pim from Hockey! You can read more about them on our website.