Ones to watch — part four

In part four of our series, we look at some outstanding young Mayo sporting talent

Athletics
Joanne Loftus
Moy Valley AC
THE smooth-striding and determined teenager is definitely an athlete to watch in 2021. Joanne ran one race at national level last year, winning silver in a thrilling All-Ireland Junior Women’s 3000m.
As with all competitive athletes this year, restrictions have limited the events that Joanne can compete in. The indoor season has been cancelled, as it would not be possible to safeguard athletes against the transmission of Covid-19.
Joanne sat down with her coach, Philip Finnerty, recently to plan the upcoming season.
She is busy studying for her Leaving Cert at Gortnor Abbey, Crossmolina so it was agreed that her focus should be a possible outdoor track championships in the summer. Hopefully, this will be followed by the National Junior Women’s cross country where places on the Irish team to compete at the European Cross Country Championships will be hotly-contested.  
The European cross’ will be made all the more special this year as Ireland are scheduled to host it. It would be great to see a Mayo athlete on one of the Irish teams this year.
Joanne is managing her time very carefully. She takes a balanced and smart approach to training to leave plenty of time for study. The approach is centred on small incremental increases in training volume with time-trials every few weeks.  
With Joanne’s desire and dedication to training, it will not be a surprise to see her on the National podium later this year and, who knows, maybe even earning another Irish singlet.

Basketball
Hazel Finn
Kiltimagh
THE talented teenager is following in the footsteps of her older sister — and fellow Irish international basketball star, Dayna — in being one of the brightest prospects in the sport.
The Kiltimagh native is also a daughter of former Mayo Gaelic footballer John Finn and Mayo ladies footballer Bernie Finn (nee McGrath), and has been selected to represent Ireland at the 2021 European Championships which is due to take place in Austria.
Hazel studies at St Louis CS in Kiltimagh and plays her club basketball with Maree in Galway.
In 2019 she captained the Irish team in the Under-16 European Championships in Bulgaria and had an impressive tournament despite carrying an injury.
Unlike her older sister, Dayna, Hazel isn’t balancing Mayo Ladies and basketball commitments just yet, which means she can focus completely on making her mark on the hard courts.

Savate (Boxe Française)
Shane Mitchell
White Tiger
COMING from a family which includes a European silver medallist brother and a World bronze medallist sister, many would find themselves succumbing to the pressure to live up to their siblings.
But 13 year-old Shane Mitchell is taking it all in this stride as he prepares for the 2021 Cadet World Championships in Serbia later this year – Covid-19 restrictions permitting!
Having fought at local, national and international level since he was nine years of age, Shane carries a lot of experience despite his tender years.
Travelling around Ireland and beyond (the last international competition being to Paris, France) he has picked up the movement and the skill he needs to push into the medal ranks later this year. 
Lockdown has been the biggest difficulty to overcome, but the coaches at White Tiger in Castlebar are running online classes, meeting and working out with the athletes twice a week.
When the restrictions are finally lifted, Shane (and all the members) will have the technical and tactical skills finely-tuned, plus all their fitness in the bag so it will simply be a matter of sharpening spars to finish off the preparation. 
This gives the coaches great confidence in Shane for 2021 and for a long time beyond.

Swimming
Megan Kilgallen
Claremorris SC
MEGAN joined the Claremorris swim club in 2013 and in her time with the club has embraced the sport wholeheartedly. Her commitment to bettering her training regime and performance has resulted in Megan winning a number of regional and national Irish medals. She is a very dedicated hard working young athlete, who continues to persevere with passion in order to reach her goals.
There was great excitement for her team-mates at the Claremorris Swim Club when Megan reached finals in her specialty backstroke event at the Irish Open National Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in 2019.  
Megan has qualified for and reached finals at national competitions in Lisburn and Bangor.  In 2019 she just missed posting a Connacht record in the 50m Backstroke, her main stroke.
The last 12 months has brought big challenges for the sport of swimming nationally and globally, but she remains focused and committed to maintaining fitness during a period of restricted pool time so that when the sport resumes, she can continue her swimming journey.  Megan is a Leaving Cert student at Mount St Michael Claremorris, and is balancing all of the challenges that come with study and sport in an unprecedented times.  
Resilient and strong, she is definitely one to watch in the arena of swimming.