Last weekend 21 Fermanagh swimmers from the Enniskillen Lakelanders made their way to the Bangor Open Winter Festival, the first Long Course Gala of 2020. Held over 2 days in the 50m pool at the Aurora leisure Centre, the event saw the Lakelanders perform well with 9 Gold, 8 Silver and 12 Bronze medals returning to Fermanagh, alongside 67 PB’s, and numerous qualifying times for upcoming events.

 

The youngest Lakelander attending Hannah Lynch (10) swam 400m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly for the first time winning bronze in both. In the 200m Freestyle she obtained an 8 second PB and an all important qualifying time for the next level of regional competition.

 

Kate Mc Dade (11), was keen to gain Long Course experience, swam 2.5 sec PBs in 100m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle. Kate finished off with an impressive 7.5 sec PB in the challenging 200IM.

 

Tom Buchanan (11) competed in five events and was delighted to PB in all, notably smashing more than 6 seconds off in the 100m Butterfly event.

 

Hayden James (12) didn't disappoint with PBs in all four events, 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle, an impressive swim in the 200m Freestyle saw him achieve a 8.82s PB placing him 6th overall and finished with a PB in the 50m Freestyle earning him his first qualifying time.

 

Having just celebrated his 12th Birthday Jamie Lannon made great progress with very strong swims in his Backstroke and Freestyle events. Jamie impressed most in the 100m and 200m Breaststroke showing considerable improvement. Jamie proudly came away from the meet with three division two times, a bronze, two silver and a gold medal.

 

Cora Cassidy (13) competed in eight events, securing PBs across the 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle and securing the Bronze medal in the gruelling 400IM.

 

Anna Mc Dade (13) continued recent form, with two golds in her favoured 100m and 200m Breaststroke, securing division 1 times and qualifying for the Dave Mc Cullagh International meet and the Irish Long Course Open Championships. Gaining experience in other strokes, Anna impressed with 5 second PB and bronze medal in 200IM. Further PBs in 100m Butterfly and the 50m Freestyle securing top 5 finishes.

 

Isobel Lannon (13) swam to the coaches expectations, focusing on mid distance events this season Isobel showed technical consistency in the 50m and 200m Freestyle, skills which resulted in a PB in her targeted event the 400m Freestyle finishing 4th overall and achieving her first Division one time of the season. Izzy also finished top 4 in 3 events and achieved 5 division 2 times.

 

Emilie Reihill (13) competed in six events achieving 3 PBs in the 100m and 400m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke, silver medal for 100m Freestyle, and bronze medals in the 50m and 200m Freestyle, she achieved 5 Division 2 times, and secured her place at the Ulster Long Course Championships.

Ellie McCartney (14) competed in five events winning five Gold Medals with the highlight being a massive five second PB in the 100m Butterfly in a time of 1:07.41. The 14-year-olds time in the 200m Breaststroke and 200m IM was the fastest female time in the pool at the event. Ellie’s time in each event qualified her for the Irish Summer Nationals at the end of the season.

Cíosa McConnell (14) had great success achieving PBs across each of her seven events.  The 400m Freestyle saw Ciosa impress with a 14 second PB and Bronze medal. She continued this form in the 200m Breaststroke with another Bronze medal and her first Division 1 qualifying time.  Ciosa picked up a third Bronze of the day in the 50m Breaststroke and finished the day with a strong 200m IM. Day 2 saw Ciosa pick up a Silver medal in the 100m Breaststroke and a Division 1 qualifying time, finishing with strong swims in the 200m and 50m Freestyle.  

Luke Aiken (15) had a fantastic start to 2020 with PBs across all his events. Luke had a target of 2 qualifying times at this meet and he didn’t disappoint securing the first of the times in his 50m Butterfly. He also had strong swims in the 100m and 200m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke. Going into his last swim of the weekend, 100m Butterfly, he achieved his qualifying time with a huge 6 second PB and his first Division 2 time.

 

Dara Ronan (15) swam in 6 Events, winning Gold in the tough 200m Butterfly and Bronze in the 100m Butterfly.  Dara also had a good PB in the 50m Butterfly, finishing 4th. He also had top 10 finishes in the 200 IM, 100m Breaststroke and 50m Breaststroke (9th).

Anna Mc Glinchey (15) took part in 5 events the 100m Freestyle, 200m IM the 50m Butterfly and achieved PBs in the 100m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle.

 

Molly Johnston (15) swam in 5 events - 50m, 100m & 200m Breaststroke, 200IM and 50m Freestyle, achieving a Division 2 time, qualifying gala time and a PB in the 50m Freestyle. Under the guidance of coach Aaron, Molly is well prepared for the Long Course season ahead.

Alex Mc Glinchey (16) took part in the 50m Butterfly, PB of 1.28 seconds, 100m Freestyle where he improved his time by 0.20 seconds, 200m Freestyle with a PB of 0.89 and 50m Freestyle where he stayed in around his PB of 27.92 seconds.

 

Ben Lynch (16) competed in 5 events winning silver in his favoured events the 200m and 400m freestyle.

 

Lauren Keaney (16) swam extremely well at the Bangor Open winter festival, she achieved a PB in her 200m Breaststroke by an impressive 23 seconds, she also achieved PBs in her 50m and 100m Freestyle.

Lewis McCartney (17), swam in five events over the weekend and returned with a Silver Medal and a Bronze Medal in the 200m Backstroke and 200m Breaststroke. The latter time also gave him a first qualifying time for the Ireland Summer Nationals in the Ultra-Competitive Open section.

Kealan McShea (17) competed in 2 events, a good swim in the 100m Breaststroke to finish in 6th place was followed by a strong 200IM giving him 2nd place and his first Irish Summer National Championship qualification time. 

Lakelanders' Head coach Aaron Rickhuss praised the swimmers efforts and results achieved by saying, 'all swimmers who raced this weekend deserve tomorrow off from training, but come Tuesday we'll be back in the pool working to build on these fantastic results, well done everyone, we've really got something special to build on here'.

Lakelanders' Club Chair, Sara Lannon paid tribute to the swimmers, coaches and parents saying, 'The Lakelanders club keeps going from strength to strength, 21 swimmers at this our first long course event of the season bodes very well for the build up to the Irish National finals in July. This shows how deserved our award of Swim Ulster, Club of the Year for last season was. We have our athletes, coaches and committee to thank for their efforts in achieving results of this calibre, everyone should be very proud'.