Celebrating SERC Alumni Success at Tokyo 2020

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have officially ended, a great summer games that featured four SERC alumni: Rhys McClenaghan and Kevin Seaward took part in the Olympics, while Bethany Firth and Barry McClements competed in the Paralympics.

It was a first Olympic appearance for former BTEC Level 3 Sport student Rhys McClenaghan. The Newtownards native has brought great pride to Northern Irish and Irish gymnastics in recent years, winning Gold for NI in the 2018 Commonwealth games and in 2019 becoming the first Irish gymnast to win a medal in the World Championships. Unfortunately for Rhys adding to his medal collection in Tokyo wasn’t to be -  a valiant effort saw him compete in the finals of the men’s pommel horse, finishing 7th. 

Kevin Seward, a former SERC Bangor student who studied Sport at higher education levels 4 and 5, took part in the games for a second time, having previously competed at Rio 2016. An impressive long distance runner, Kevin took part in the men's marathon, clocking a time of 2:21:45. He was team Ireland’s top performer in the race and overall finished 58 out of 106.

Barry McClements, who studied the Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Sport at SERC’s Bangor campus, competed for the Irish Paralympic Swim team. This may have been his first outing at the Paralympics but Barry is no stranger to the big stage and had previously competed internationally for Northern Ireland in swimming, and is a Commonwealth Games & European finalist.

Barry took part in several events. He was just 0.66 seconds off pace for a spot in the S9 100m butterfly final, he also took part in the SM9 200m medley, and 400m freestyle again coming within a second of qualifying for the final. This was despite a great effort that saw him log a new personal record. However, the best event for 19-year-old Barry was in the S9 men's 100m backstroke, competing in the finals of the event he set a personal-best time and finished seventh overall.

The Paralympic Games saw yet another outstanding showing from former Elite Athlete Program student Bethany Firth. Bethany went into the games with the pressure of being one of Team GB’s biggest names after impressive showings at London 2012 and Rio 2016. The Seaforde born swimmer went into the games with a medal count of 5 and left with 9.

Bethany won two gold medals, one for the S14 women's 100m backstroke -  which she has now won for a third consecutive time - and the second as part of the world record breaking S14 mixed 4x100m freestyle team. Firth won silver in two events, the S14 200m freestyle and the SM14 individual medley.

Lynda Robinson, SERC Deputy Head of School, Applied Science, Sport and Access to Education, said “The college is extremely proud of these former students and all their achievements to date. They compete so valiantly every time, it makes us proud to watch them take part in these competitions and showcase their incredible talent at the highest level.”

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