A Limerick second-level student, trained by University of Limerick and Mary Immaculate College lecturers, has won a bronze medal at the 59th International Mathematical Olympiad in Romania.
This year, a record three students who attended the UL/MIC training made the Irish team of six to travel to Romania for the competition.
Lucas Bachmann, a fifth year student at Glenstal Abbey School, Murroe, Co. Limerick, became the first student trained in Limerick to win a Bronze Medal and only the 10th Irish Student to achieve this distinction in the 31 years Ireland has taken part in the competition. Lucas has been participating in the training at UL for three years. Earlier this year, Lucas won a silver medal at the Benelux Mathematical Olympiad.
As preparation for the IMO, training is provided to talented school children at five centres around Ireland.
The IMO is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959 and training started in Limerick when Ireland began taking part in 1988. Since then, 15 students trained in Limerick have been selected to represent Ireland at the prestigious competition.
The training is provided by current and retired staff of UL and MIC, many of whom have previously led teams or taken part in the IMO. Eugene Gath, Gordon Lessells, Bernd Kreussler, Jim Leahy, Mark Burke, Ronan Flatley and Mary Frawley are the current UL/MIC Training Team. Since 1994, both institutions have also provided training camps for team members ahead of participation in the IMO.
This year's Irish team was made up of: Anna Mustata (Bishopstown Community School, Cork); Lucas Bachmann (Glenstal Abbey School, Murroe, Co. Limerick); Tianyiwa Xie (Alexandra College, Milltown Road, Dublin 6); Seán Fitzgerald (Castletroy College, Limerick); Nicholas Pochinkov (St Gerard's, Bray, Co. Wicklow); and, Vlad-Florian Lica (Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School, Tralee, Co. Kerry). Lucas, Seán and Vlad-Florian all participated in the Maths Enrichment training at UL.