Fiona Doyle

Last updated

Fiona Doyle
Fiona M Doyle RIO 2016.jpg
Doyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Personal information
Full nameFiona Doyle
NationalityIrish
Born4 October 1991 (1991-10-04) (age 32)
Limerick, Ireland
Sport
Sport Swimming
ClubUCSC / Portmarnock SC
College teamUniversity of Calgary DINOS
Medal record
Universiade
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2013 Kazan 100 m breaststroke
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2015 Gwangju 50 m breaststroke
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2015 Gwangju 100 m breaststroke

Fiona Doyle (born 4 October 1991) is an Irish swimmer. She represented Ireland in the 2016 Rio Olympics swimming in the 100M and 200M Breaststroke. In 2013, she competed in the 100m event at the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona where she finished eleventh overall. [1] She won a silver medal in the 100 m breaststroke at the 2013 Summer Universiade. [2] In recognition of her achievements she was awarded Swim Alberta Female International Swimmer of the Year 2012/2013, University of Calgary female Athlete of the Year 2013 [3] and SwimIreland High Performance Athlete of the Year 2013, [4] 2014 and 2015.

Contents

Early life

Fiona attended primary school at St. Nessan's National School in Mungret, County Limerick, she then moved to the Crescent College Comprehensive in Dooradoyle, County Limerick for her second level education. When she moved to Dublin in 2009 she attended the Institute of Education for her final year.

Fiona and her twin sister Eimear learned to swim in Saint Paul’s Swimming Club which was founded in 1974 by their paternal grandad Michael J. Doyle. They then progressed to lane swimming and transferred to Limerick Swimming Club and were coached by Gerry Ryan, John Dempsey, Anne Mulcair and Barbara Nalewko. Fiona also has four other siblings.

Career

In 2005, Fiona qualified for her first major international swim meet, the European Youth Olympic Festival in which she placed 4th in the 100m breaststroke in a time of 1.13. and broke her previously held Irish Record in the process. Later that summer, she went on to better that time and win a gold medal at the British Age Group Championships, Sheffield. In 2006, Swim Ireland established a High Performance centre in Limerick at the University of Limerick Arena. Fiona and Eimear were amongst the first swimmers to be selected for the new squad coached by Canadian, Steve Price and in 2007, they represented Ireland at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Antwerp where they both made finals. In 2008 Fiona moved to Edmonton for eight weeks in an attempt to qualify for the Beijing Olympics and trained with Steve Price who had taken up the Head Coach position with EKSC, earlier in the year. While in Canada she competed in the 2008 Alberta Senior Provincial Championship in Calgary where she won Gold in the 200Breaststroke breaking the Irish Junior record in a time of 2:35.26 and took silver in the 50 & 100 Breaststroke and 100 Freestyle. [5] While she failed to achieve the A qualifying standard she was determined to pursue a dream she had since she was eleven to swim at the Olympics. In 2009, she moved to Dublin to train with Portmarnock Swimming Club and the NAC High Performance Centre where she was coached by Anne Burdis, Peter O’Brien and Paul O’Donovan.

Fiona accepted a sports scholarship from the University of Calgary as it had a proven track record under Head-Coach Mike Blondal, in coaching international and Olympic class swimmers and has one of the top performing women’s swimming team in the CIS

In 2014 competed in the European Long Course Championships, where she placed 7th in the 50m breaststroke.

Swim Ireland awarded her athlete of the year 2014 for the second year running. [6]

In 2015, Fiona was awarded the 2015 CIS female swimmer of the year [7] after winning all the breaststroke events. This was the first time since 2009 that a clean sweep was accomplished in the breaststroke events.

During the 2015 World University Games, in Gwangju South Korea, Fiona placed 2nd in the 50m breaststroke and 3rd in the 100m breaststroke and became the first Irish swimmer to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. [8] [9]

International competition

Fiona has represented Ireland in the following competitions;

2005 EYOF Lignano
2005 European Short Course Championships Trieste
2006 European Junior Championships Majorica
2007 European Junior Championships Antwerp
2008 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships Monterey
2008 European Short Course Championships Croatia
2009 World Aquatics Championships XIII FINA World Championships Rome
2011 Summer Universiade World University Games Shenzhen
2013 Summer Universiade World University Games Kazan
2013 World Aquatics Championships XV FINA World Championships Barcelona
2013 Duel in the Pool Championships Europe vs. USA Glasgow
2014 European Long Course Championships Berlin
2015 Summer Universiade World University Games Gwangju
2015 World Aquatics Championships XVI FINA World Championships Kazan
2016 European Long Course Championships London
2016 Rio Olympic Games

Related Research Articles

Linley Margaret Frame, is an Australian competitive swimmer who won a gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke at the 1991 FINA World Aquatics Championships, and represented Australia at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, coming in 15th and 19th in her breaststroke events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erica Morningstar</span> Canadian swimmer

Erica Rachelle Morningstar is a Canadian swimmer who has competed in international events including the 2008 Summer Olympics, and 2012 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuliya Yefimova</span> Russian swimmer

Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is the Russian record holder in the 200 metre individual medley, 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, and 200 metre breaststroke. After making her Olympic debut in 2008, she went on to win the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke in 2012, and silver medals in the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke in 2016. She is a six-time World Champion, winning the 50 metre breaststroke in 2009 and 2013, the 100 metre breaststroke in 2015, and the 200 metre breaststroke in 2013, 2017, and 2019. In 2019, she became the first woman to win the 200 metre breaststroke at a FINA World Aquatics Championships three times. She is a former world record holder in the long course 50 metre breaststroke. She has won 109 medals, including 48 gold medals, at Swimming World Cups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alia Atkinson</span> Jamaican swimmer (born 1988)

Alia Shanee Atkinson, СD is a Jamaican five-time Olympian and a former competitive swimmer whose international competition career spanned 19 years, 2003 to 2021 inclusive, at the senior level. At short course World Swimming Championships, she is a ten-time medalist in individual events, including four gold medals, four silver medals, and two bronze medals. She won a total of 124 medals, of which 74 were gold medals, at Swimming World Cup circuits over the course of her career. She won 14 total medals in individual events, 11 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze, from her first three Central American and Caribbean Games, in 2006, 2010, and 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giedrius Titenis</span> Lithuanian swimmer

Giedrius Titenis is a Lithuanian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a four-time Olympian, a multiple-time Lithuanian record holder in the men's breaststroke, and a double swimming champion in the same discipline at the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China. Titenis is also a member of Anykščiai Swimming Club, and is coached and trained by Žilvinas Ovsiukas.

Kenneth King-him To was a Hong Kong Australian swimmer who practised individual medley, freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke. He won 6 medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, was the male overall winner of the 2012 FINA Swimming World Cup and was a World Championships silver medallist. He was the holder of 16 Hong Kong national swimming records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rūta Meilutytė</span> Lithuanian swimmer (born 1997)

Rūta Meilutytė is a Lithuanian swimmer. An Olympic gold medalist, she is a world record holder in the short course 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and long course 50 metre breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rikke Møller Pedersen</span> Danish swimmer (born 1989)

Rikke Møller Pedersen is a Danish competitive swimmer specialising in breaststroke and from 2013 to 2021 world record holder in the 200 m breaststroke (2:19.11).

Laurent Carnol is a Luxembourgish swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Carnol set national records of 1:01.39 and 2:09.78 in the men's breaststroke at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and at the 2012 European Long Course Meet in Luxembourg City, respectively. Carnol is also a member of SC Le Dauphin Ettelbruck under his personal coach Ian Armiger, and currently, a chemistry student at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England.

Craig Benson is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who specialised in breaststroke. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics and European Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siobhan-Marie O'Connor</span> English swimmer (born 1995)

Siobhan-Marie O'Connor is a former English competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games, the FINA World Aquatics Championships and the LEN European Aquatics Championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games. A specialist in the 200 metres individual medley, she is the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion in the event, and has won silver medals in the same event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, 2016 European Aquatics Championships, the 2014 World Short-Course Championships and the 2013 and 2015 European Short Course Championships – on each occasion behind World and Olympic champion Katinka Hosszú. With six Commonwealth Games medals in total from 2014, O'Connor was England's most decorated athlete at those Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Cordes</span> American competitive swimmer

Kevin Cordes is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke events. He currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the International Swimming League. Cordes was a member of the 2016 U.S. Men's Olympic Swimming Team. He won gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay as a member of the preliminary relay, and took 4th place in the Men's 100m Breaststroke at the 2016 Olympic Games. He is the former American record holder in the 50-meter and 100-meter breaststroke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktoriya Zeynep Güneş</span> Turkish swimmer (born 1998)

Viktoriya Zeynep Güneş or Viktoria Solntseva is a Ukraine-born Turkish swimmer. She currently represents Energy Standard in the International Swimming League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Peaty</span> British swimmer

Adam George Peaty is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in the breaststroke. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first by a male British swimmer in 24 years, and retained the title at the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, the first British swimmer ever to retain an Olympic title. He is also an eight-time World Champion, a sixteen-time European Champion and a four-time Commonwealth Champion. According to FINA itself, Peaty is widely regarded as the dominant breaststroke swimmer of his era, and the most dominant sprint breaststroke swimmer of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Hansson</span> Swedish swimmer (born 1996)

Louise Maria Hansson is a Swedish competitive swimmer, a member of Helsingborgs SS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anton Chupkov</span> Russian swimmer (born 1997)

Anton Mikhailovich Chupkov is a Russian competitive swimmer. He is the European record holder in the long course 200 metre breaststroke and the Russian record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke. He formerly held the world record in the long course 200 metre breaststroke. At the 2015 European Games he won four gold medals in individual and relay events. He won the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal in the 200 metre breaststroke at the 2017 and 2019 World Aquatics Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedetta Pilato</span> Italian swimmer (born 2005)

Benedetta Pilato is an Italian swimmer. She is the world record holder in the long course 50 metre breaststroke. She is the European champion in the 50 metre breaststroke in 2021 and the 100 metre breaststroke in 2022 as well as the silver medalist in the 50 metre breaststroke in 2022. In 2021, she won a silver medal in the 50 metre breaststroke at the 2021 World Short Course Championships. She is the world champion in the 100 metre breaststroke and the silver medal in the 50 metre breaststroke at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships.

Nika Godun is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is a Russian record holder in the short course 4×50 metre medley relay and the 4×100 metre medley relay. She competed at the 2019 and 2021 European Short Course Championships, medaling in the 4×50 metre medley relay and 50 metre breaststroke. At the 2021 World Short Course Championships she placed fifth in the 50 metre breaststroke and the 4×100 metre medley relay, and sixth in the 100 metre breaststroke and the 4×50 metre medley relay.

Kirill Strelnikov is a Russian competitive swimmer. He won a gold medal in the 4×50 metre medley relay at the 2021 World Short Course Championships and the 4×100 metre medley relay at the 2013 World University Games, swimming the breaststroke leg of both relays in the final. At the 2021 European Short Course Championships he won a bronze medal in the 4×50 metre mixed medley relay, swimming the breaststroke leg of the relay in the preliminaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Reaney</span> American swimmer (born 1992)

Emma Reaney is a former competition breaststroke and individual medley swimmer and current swim coach. She is an 8-time All-American and 5-time All-American honorable mention. She medaled for Team USA at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships and the 2015 Summer Universiade. She has set American records in both the 200-yard breaststroke and the 4x50 meter medley relay. As of 2021, Reaney still held 4 Notre Dame swimming event records.

References

  1. "Fiona Doyle misses out on World 100m breaststroke final". Irish Independent. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  2. "Ireland's Fiona Doyle wins silver in Women's 100m Breaststroke in Russia". RTÉ Sport. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  3. "Doyle, Timmis win athlete of the year honours at U of C Dinos athletics banquet". Calgary Herald. 9 April 2014. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  4. "Swim Ireland Athletes, Coaches & Volunteers Honoured in Limerick". SwimIreland.ie. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  5. "2008 AB Senior Provincial Championship Long Course". Swimming.ca. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  6. "Aquatic Community Honoured at Swim Ireland Awards | Swim Ireland". www.swimireland.ie. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  7. "RECAP DAY 3 (Final day) Speedo CIS swimming championships: UBC completes sweep, T-Bird women four-peat as CIS champions - CIS English". Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  8. Kenny, John (5 July 2015). "Fiona Doyle books spot at Rio Olympics". rte.ie.
  9. "Fiona Doyle becomes Ireland's first swimmer to qualify for Rio". the42.ie. 6 July 2015.