Sirens ASC trio, Alexandra McGonigle, Jeremy Bugeja and Daniel Sammut, were recently in Romania to participate in the AMNB Cup, a meeting organised by the Municipal Swimming Association in Bucha- rest.
The meeting featured over 550 entrants from 36 clubs, mainly from the host country and neighbours Bulgaria.
Results for the young Maltese swimmers, under the charge of elite squad coach Catalin Stan, were very encouraging considering these are still early stages in the season.
McGonigle, 13, won gold in 100m breaststroke thanks to a new personal best of 1.25.66. She also added a bronze when clocking 1:06.99 in the 100m freestyle.
In a particularly tough age group (born 2000), Bugeja was runner-up in the 100m freestyle (57.46) and third in the 200m freestyle with a time of 2.08.91, just outside his personal best for the distance.
Sammut returned home having clocked personal best timings in all his races, starting with the 200m freestyle where he shaved six seconds off his previous best which now stands at 2.20.27.
Sammut followed that up with a 1.03.42 in the 100m freestyle and 1.12.75 in 100m backstroke.
Stan said: “I’m delighted with my swimmers’ performance in Bucha-rest, especially as we always knew that this was a tough meet.
“It takes great determination for these young swimmers to travel overseas and perform in unfamiliar surroundings without the support of family and friends.
“But, what matters most is what happens during competition and yet all three of them are of the opinion that they could improve their times. That just underlines their dedication and commitment.”
Sirens swimmers also took part in the ASA time-trial meet at Tal-Qroqq a couple of weeks back. In all, Stan’s swimmers took part in 127 races with an impressive PB rate of 71.7 per cent, the club said.
Meanwhile, the ASA also announced the results of the 2013-2014 season with Bugeja placing top of the list in the cadets category (2000 and younger) with 4,527 points followed by Liam Gauci, 3,759 points.
Philip Caruana Baldacchino and Charis Ceccarelli both placed third in the junior category rankings.