Connect with us

Sports

Special Olympics Limerick swimmers shine at Princess Charlene Invitational in Monaco

Published

1 month ago

on

Special Olympics Limerick athletes Tara Loftus, Emma Griffin, Andy Coyne, and Brian Lowe represented Special Olympics Ireland at the second Princess Charlene Invitational in Monaco

Four Limerick athletes take a collection of medals home with Special Olympics Ireland at the Princess Charlene Invitational in Monaco

Four Limerick athletes take a collection of medals home with Special Olympics Ireland at the Princess Charlene Invitational in Monaco
The Limerick team’s achievements were remarkable, bringing home two gold medals, one bronze

Tara Loftus, Emma Griffin, Andy Coyne, and Brian Lowe from Special Olympics Limerick represented Ireland at the second Princess Charlene Invitational in Monaco over the recent Bank Holiday weekend.

The four teammates from the Limerick City Special Olympics team made waves at the invitational where they competed with Europe’s finest athletes with intellectual disabilities, the Limerick athletes proudly represented their local clubs as well as their country.

Held at the Centre Nautique Albert II, this year’s meet marked the second edition of the Princess Charlene Invitational, attracting more than 200 elite athletes from across Europe with the Princely couple, Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, both in attendance and Princess Charlene inaugurating the event.


advertisement
advertisement


advertisement
advertisement


advertisement
advertisement

Established in 1968 in the United States, Special Olympics extended to Europe in 1980 with Monaco among the first countries to join, pioneering inclusion for people with disabilities through sport.

The Limerick team’s achievements were remarkable, bringing home two gold medals, one bronze, and finishing with high placements across various races as each swimmer put forth dedicated performances making the county and country proud.

There is little rest for the athletes on their return to Ireland as they dive straight back into training and competitions without pause, this Saturday, November 2 sees the Munster Swimming Gala at University of Limerick and regular training sessions continue on Monday and Friday evenings at UL.

Limerick City Special Olympics Sports Club, in existence since 2009, is a fully voluntary organisation, catering for over seventy athletes across three sports, Swimming, Athletics and Basketball. The sole purpose of the club is to promote sport in Limerick City and surrounds for people with an Intellectual Disability. LCSO are looking for coaches and volunteers for Basketball, Athletics and Swimming. If interested in helping out please contact the club directly.

Meeting Européen de Natation « Princesse Charlène »Monaco, Limerick City Special Olympics Sports Club have been selected to represent Munster and Ireland at the upcoming Princess Charlene European Swim Meet in Monaco. Four of our athletes, Brian Lowe, Tara Loftus, Andrew Coyne and Emma Griffin, will swim events in backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Accompanying them will be our Head of Delegation Olive Coyne and Head Coach Diarmuid Maguire. Pictured at the 7 Sisters in Kildimo with a visit from Mayor of Limerick City and County, John Moran. Picture: Keith Wiseman
Brian Lowe, Tara Loftus, Andrew Coyne and Emma Griffin represented Ireland at the Princess Charlene Invitational in MonacoPicture: Keith Wiseman
Related Topics:

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.