Gold for Deirdre Faul – Her 7th!! Plus 4 medals in Swimming!!
Liver transplant woman squashes competition at World Transplant Games winning her seventh in a row World Champion title
Liver transplant recipient Deirdre Faul from Dalkey Dublin squashed competition at the World Transplant Games. She has achieved an amazing ‘Seven in a Row’ World Transplant Squash Champion title and a Gold medal for winning her squash event the World Transplant Games in Newcastle today.
The mother of two sons has reigned supreme at the biennial games since first winning Gold for Squash at the World Transplant Games in 2007. Today saw her sail through qualifiers to reach the final against a French competitor with a final score of 3 games to nil in a best of five competition. A competitor representing Great Britain/Northern Ireland shared third place with an Argentinian lady. Deirdre said, “I’m delighted. The French competitor was coming back in the third match so I had to stay relaxed and focused. It is amazing to get seven in a row. A big thanks to my coach Frank Donnelly for all his help and to Irish Squash for their support coming up to the Games and of course a very special thanks to my donor and donor family”.
Deirdre (51), a liver transplant recipient, also won another four medals at the Games. She broke two World Transplant time records in Swimming at the 100m Breaststroke and the 400m freestyle events and she also was awarded with a Silver in the 50m Breastroke and 200m Freestyle, an extraordinary accomplishment as just days previously the 51 year old defended and won her World Transplant title in Squash, her seventh in a Row since her first win at the 2007 games.
Deirdre is among 38 members of Transplant Team Ireland who are participating at the World Transplant Games in Newcastle Gateshead this week. Athletes are competing in their respective age categories in the following events: badminton, cycling, darts, golf, petanque, squash, swimming, table tennis, ten pin bowling, tennis, mini-marathon, and track and field.
The team’s final medals tally was 17 Gold, 18 Silver and 15 Bronze which earned them a very respectable 11th place position on the leader board amongst 56 countries some with larger teams. A really magnificent performance!
This year the team has gratefully received support from Swim Ireland, Athletics Ireland and Irish Squash. The on-going coaching support from Swim Ireland has been particularly welcomed. Astellas Pharma Ltd. has again provided some sponsorship towards the costs of running the team.
For more information on World Transplant Games and the Irish athletes visit the Irish team blog www.transplantteamireland.ie
Visit the Games website www.worldtransplantgames.org
The Irish Kidney Association will host the European Transplant & Dialysis Sports Championships in Dublin next summer (August 2nd-9th 2020) and its primary goal is to promote the importance and success of organ donation for transplantation.
Transplant Team Ireland will return home to Dublin Airport Terminal One on a Ryanair flight on August 24th circa 12.30pm.
