IT Sligo postgraduate student John Morton is never far from the ocean – and it shows. The Wicklow native and water sports enthusiast has won countless awards –most notably as part of the Irish Lifesaving Team which competed in the 2011 European Lifesaving Championships in Alicante, Spain.
“We won gold in the pool competition which was a first for Ireland”, explained the 26 year old who is something of a legend in Sligo because of his prowess on the waves. He was also part of the Irish relay team which took silver in the beach event in Alicante.
During the summer, the engineering postgraduate student won the Warrior of the Sea Swim in Co Sligo, a five to six kilometre swim from Rosses Point to Strandhill. He did it in a record time of 1 hour and 28 minutes, becoming the first to break the 1 hour 30 minute barrier.
A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, John is doing his PhD at IT Sligo where he is a member of the IT Sligo Geotechnical Research Group under supervisor Dr Conleth O’Loughlin. He is making maximum use of the flexibility involved in being a research student by combining his studies with a rigorous training schedule.
A beneficiary of the IT Sligo Sports Scholarship Scheme which aims to assist athletes of outstanding ability to reach their potential, he has access to the state of the art sports facilities at the Institute. “That is a significant advantage”, said John who aptly enough is investigating anchoring solutions for offshore structures such as floating wind farms, for his thesis.
“The nature of post graduate research means that I can organise my work and training schedule and maintain a healthy work/ life balance,” said John who competes throughout the academic year with the IT Sligo Swim Team.
Having lived in Sligo for two and half years, he loves being close to the beaches where he can indulge his passion for water sports whether swimming, surfing or surf lifesaving.
Getting to the European Lifesaving finals where he was competing with some of Europe’s best and fittest lifeguards made all the training worthwhile especially when the Irish team did so well.
The competition took place over four days, with the pool competition taking place in Alicante’s Olympic 50m pool. The action then moved to the Mediterranean Sea for the surf competition. “The highlight of the surf competition was winning a silver medal in the taplin relay where I paddled the surf-ski leg,” recalled John.
The Irish Lifesaving Team is part-selected from the Irish Surf Lifesaving National Championships which took place in Co Clare in September. The IT Sligo School of Engineering was well represented at the competition with Trevor McSharry head of the Civil Engineering & Construction Department, and John Morton, both competing in the surf events.
John has competed in the World Lifesaving Championships in Italy in 2004, Australia in 2006 and Germany in 2008. He is now aiming for the World Life Saving Championships in Australia in November 2012.
Trevor McSharry commended the PhD student on his significant achievements. “John is an exceptional athlete who has coached Sligo junior lifesaving teams, and is a role model for student in terms of successfully balancing his studies with sport.
“Leisure activities should be a key part of every student’s life and I would encourage all students to participate in the wide range of clubs and societies at IT Sligo,” said Mr McSharry.
Image Caption: John Morton (pictured second from right) at the European Lifesaving Championships.