Founded 1955 - Reestablished 1986 - Affiliated to the Athletic Association of Ireland
| ATHLETE | CLUB | YEAR OF BIRTH |
| Sorcha Conway | St Peter's AC | 1990 |
| Ann McCartney | St Peter's AC | 1990 |
| Olivia McDonald | St Peter's AC | 1990 |
| Linda Galligan | St Peter's AC | 1991 |
| Hilary Kerr | St Peter's AC | 1991 |
| Kevin McManus | St Peter's AC | 1991 |
| Laura O'Neill | St Peter's AC | 1992 |
| Barry Cunningham | Ardee & District AC | 1992 |
| Barry Faulkner | Ardee & District AC | 1993 |
| COACH | CLUB |
| Maria Duffy | St Peter's AC |
| Kathleen McConnell | St Peter's AC |
| Tom McGrane | St Peter's AC |
| Anne McGuinness | St Peter's AC |
| Zbigniew Orywal | (Telephone contact only due to his unexpected hospitalisation) |
| Stanislaw Szudrowicz | |
| Witold Dziamski | |
The following report of the trip was submitted to and published by three local newspapers (The Argus, The Dundalk Democrat and the Mid-Louth Independent):
Seven up-and-coming young athletes from Dromiskin-based St Peter’s AC, surely one of the country’s most progressive athletics clubs, travelled to Poland last week for a very successful five-day training camp. The St Peter’s athletes were accompanied by four coaches from the club, and two other young athletes from neighbouring mid-Louth club, Ardee and District AC.
The athletes who travelled to the city of Poznan in western Poland were Sorcha Conway, Linda Galligan, Hilary Kerr, Ann McCartney, Olivia McDonald, Kevin McManus and Laura O’Neill from St Peter’s, and Mark Cunningham and Barry Faulkner from Ardee. All these athletes were selected for the trip based on their commitment to training and on-the-track performances. The St Peter’s coaches who accompanied the athletes were the chief trip organiser, Maria Duffy, along with Kathleen McConnell, Tom McGrane and Anne McGuinness. The club’s other coach, Angela McDonald, had also been due to travel, but unfortunately had to withdraw due to illness.
The group had planned to train under the direction of the renowned Polish coach, Dr Zbigniew Orywal, who had formerly spent many years living and coaching in Ireland. Unfortunately Dr Orywal was unexpectedly hospitalised during the squad’s time in Poland. However he remained in daily contact with Maria, and sent details of a training programme to her. He also arranged for his fellow Polish coaches, Stanislaw Szudrowicz and Witold Dziamski, to work with the mid-Louth athletes and their coaches in Poznan’s Olimpia Stadium. Polish athlete, Justyna Lesman, and Dr Orywal’s daughter, Ana, and son-in-law, Marek, were also very helpful to the group as interpreters, guides and friends.
After some light rain on the first day, and a cool second day, the last three days were perfect for training. It was sunny with light winds and the daytime temperature in the low 20s. The facilities in the Olimpia complex included a fully-equipped athletics track, a gym, and a lakeside forest trail which was ideal for running longer distances. While in Poznan the athletes trained twice a day with just one afternoon off for sightseeing in the attractive and historic city.
Ardee’s Barry Faulkner, the youngest athlete in the group, was also able to compete as a guest in a local schools’ competition at the stadium, where he impressed Irish and Poles alike with a fine double victory in the High Jump (1.48m) and the 300m (43.63s).
For the coaches and athletes this was also an excellent opportunity to learn from the Poles, particularly as Poland is a country with a fine tradition in track and field, especially in the more technical events. Working with the Polish coaches confirmed several of the training principles with which the St Peter’s coaches were already familiar, but also introduced them to some new ideas. The challenge for the forthcoming winter, and for 2008, will be for the athletes and coaches to build on the undoubted success of this training camp.