A student from Loreto Community School, Milford is the winner of the first Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure School Stars Award.
Grainne Russell, a third-year student from Kilmacrennan, was the winning entry for this term for her outstanding commitment and dedication to swimming.
The Donegal captain, Michael Murphy, made a surprise visit to the Milford secondary school to present Grainne and the school with a training kit to the value of €250, courtesy of the Letterkenny sports shop.
Grainne is a member of the Swilly Seals Swimming Club and trains five times a week at the Aura Leisure Centre, Letterkenny.
Her training involves getting up three mornings a week at 5.15am for training before going to school and she also commits to weekend training from 7.15 – 9am. Grainne also competes regularly in Swim Ulster competitions which are held throughout Northern Ireland.
[adrotate group=”53″]Grainne was the only swimmer from Donegal who was selected to attend the Ulster Schools Squad Intensive Training Camp in Tenerife at the end of October and also trained with the top junior swimmers in Ulster.
She has been the Community Games County Final winner for the past four years and, despite only being 14 years of age, placed 5th in the final of the U16 Butterfly in August of this year.
Grainne has also represented her school for the past two years in the Loreto Schools swimming finals in Dublin, getting a silver medal on both occasions.
[adrotate group=”53″]Congratulating Grainne on her success, Michael Murphy said: “I was delighted to visit Loreto Community School Milford to present Grainne and the school with their prize.
“These awards are about shining a light on students like Grainne, whose commitment to swimming deserves recognition. Since launching the MMS School Stars Award in September, we’ve had a great response from schools of all sizes from across the county and we’re looking forward to visiting another school in the New Year. There’s still time to get your entries in and you can find out more at michaelmurphysports.ie.”
[adrotate group=”53″]For more information on MMS School Stars Award email schoolstars@
