On the weekend that Ireland beat the All Blacks rugby team at home for the 1st time all the talk in Ulster was about the Swim Ulster Short Course Championships at the Lagan Valley LeisurePlex with more than 1000 entries over the 3 days. New Enniskillen Lakelander Head Coach, Aaron Rickhuss, had only 1 week to prepare five of the clubs’ top swimmers for the event with a total of 32 entries.
Thirteen-year-old Ellie McCartney has dominated her age group Breaststroke events and is now having successful open meets at a Provincial level. Last year saw Ellie lift the 200m Breaststroke Open Title while this year she returned to Enniskillen with both the 100m and 200m Breaststroke Titles, in races against swimmers up to six years older than her, as well as four Ulster Junior Titles against 15 and under swimmers. In the 100m Breaststroke heat Ellie was the fastest Junior and was awarded Junior Champion of the Year. In the final she knocked more than a second off her PB to win Gold and the Cup in a time of 1:12.52. This feat was repeated in the 200m Breaststroke were Ellie was the fastest Junior in the heats and top seed in for the final where Ellie smashed her PB by 5 seconds to retain the Cup she won last year. In the 100m Individual Medley the Enniskillen swimmer once again finished the heats as fastest Junior and went on to finish the final in fourth position 1/100th of a second behind a 20-year-old as well as a 17 and 18-year-old. In the 200m IM Ellie was again awarded the Junior Champion as well as being second seed for the final but withdraw from it due to the proximity to the 200m Breaststroke Final. The 50m Breaststroke followed and Ellie swam another PB to finish 4th – 4/100ths of a second behind the Bronze Medal winner. New PBs were also recorded in the 100m Freestyle to finish 18th and in the 50m Butterfly to finish 22nd overall. This sets Ellie up nicely for the Swim Ireland Short Course Championships in 3 weeks’ time at the same venue.
Kealan McShea has been in fantastic form this year and this continued into the championships with three top 6 finishes over two days of competition. The sixteen year old made the final in the 200m IM and just missed out on a medal finishing fourth and almost matched this in the 100m Backcrawl finishing fifth. Kealan also PB’d in the 100m Butterfly and the 200m Backcrawl bur missed out on a final place in the 50m Freestyle.
Lewis McCartney was back to his best over the weekend with six personal bests from 7 events, 1 final and 3 reserve final positions. His best event was the 100m Breaststroke where he smashed almost 4 seconds of his PB to finish in 1:11.00. Good PBs were also achieved in the 100m IM heat and final, the 100m & 200m Backcrawl as well as his favoured 50m Freestyle.
Ben Lynch, fourteen, competed in 6 events over the three-day meet. Bens most notable performances were a 39 second PB to finish in fourth place in the 1500m Freestyle, 3 second PB in the 200m Freestyle to gain a place in the final were he finished in 8th place and a 6th place finish in the 400m Freestyle.
12 year old Isobel Lannon joined the senior squad in attending her first Ulster Short Course Championship. Under the watchful eye of Head coach, Aaron Rickhuss, Izzy used the opportunity to build on her experience at this level of competition and performed steady swims in both the 200m Backcrawl in a time of 2:47.76 and 3:08.02 in the 200m Breaststroke.
Head Coach, Aaron, was impressed by the performances over the weekend and now has three weeks to fine tune the swimmers for the National Short Course meet in three week’s time.
Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club, Ulster Short Course Gala 2018
- 19 Apr 2025Lakelanders light up the NAC at Irish Open
Swim Ireland’s Irish Open Swimming Championships started on Saturday (12th April) at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. The 5-day event saw over three hundred swimmers from over fifty clubs compete for National titles in thirty-four individual events. The competition saw twelve Championship Records broken as well as three Irish Senior and four Irish Junior Records across the five days of racing as swimmers aimed for places on Senior National Teams. This meet is also the first opportunity for athletes to qualify for the Regional and National programmes for the 2025-2026 season. Three swimmers from the local Enniskillen Lakelanders swim club attended the prestigious meet keen to compete with the best in the country and witness some of the top swimmers the world in action. - 05 Apr 2025Cracking Racing in Craigavon for Enniskillen Lakelanders' Swimmers
Portadown ASC and Lurgan ASC hosted the South Lake Open Meet 2025 at South Lake Leisure Centre, Craigavon on Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th April. A total of 32 Enniskillen Lakelanders’ swimmers competed over the two day meet. - 30 Mar 2025Lakelanders' Swimmers Sparkle for their Schools at Irish Minor Schools Champions
The Irish Minor Schools Championships 2025 took place on Sunday 30th March at the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin. 17 Enniskillen Lakelanders swimmers aged 12 and under made the journey, having qualified earlier this month at the regional schools gala in Lisburn and were high with excitement as they headed off to Dublin to do their schools proud on the National stage. - 23 Mar 2025Young Lakelanders successful at Future Challengers Gala in Lisburn
Ten junior members of Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club travelled to Lisburn on Saturday 22nd March to compete in the fourth meet of the Swim Ulster Future Challengers series at the Lagan Valley Leisureplex.
This gala series is for swimmers aged 10-14 and provides competitive racing opportunities at junior level.
Several medals and lots of new personal best times were secured by the young Lakelanders who displayed their continual improvement and commitment to the sport. - 23 Mar 2025Lakelanders Aquasprinters Victorious over Belfast Olympia
The second round of this season’s Aquasprint League for the Enniskillen Lakelanders took place on Sunday morning at home to Belfast’s Olympia. 40 of their younger swimmers born between 2017 and 2012 took to the pool. There was lots of excitement but a tinge of sadness knowing this would be the last home Aquasprint of the year. The swimmers, committee and parents were hoping for a great morning.
The Aquasprint league, sponsored by Forest Feast, is a starting point for the younger swimmers to compete in all strokes in individual and relays over 25m. Aquasprints are a great opportunity for children to build on what they have been learning in the pool with coaches Ben and Claire, adding speed to this and a competitive edge. - 15 Mar 2025Ellie and Hannah swim for Ulster
Enniskillen Lakelanders' swimmers Hannah Lynch and Ellie Dunlop travelled to High Wycombe as part of the team of Ulster Regional and National programme athletes to race at the Wycombe Premier Open meet from Friday 7th March to Sunday 9th March. - 15 Mar 2025Lakelanders Secure Medal Haul in Bangor
12 Enniskillen Lakelanders’ swimmers travelled to the Aurora Aquatic & Leisure Complex, Bangor to compete in Round 2 of Swim Ulster’s ‘Aspiring Champions’ Meet Series on 15th & 16th March. This spectacular 50m pool was the perfect venue for the many challenging events the Fermanagh swimmers were eager to dive into over the weekend. - 02 Mar 2025Fermanagh Swimmers Shine for their schools at Ulster Schools Championships
Swim Ulster Primary Schools Cup and Championship was held in the Lagan Valley Leisureplex in Lisburn on Saturday 1st March.
Excited for this opportunity to represent their schools, 30 swimmers across 9 local schools headed to Lisburn, determined to do the Southwest proud and qualify for the All-Ireland Championships held in Dublin in March. Although a school competition, all the students attending are committed members of the Enniskillen Lakelanders swimming club and mustered all their skills and training in competing against the best swimmers from schools across Ulster. A successful day saw 5 podium finishes and an amazing number of swimmers qualify for the All-Ireland primary school championship to be held at the National Aquatic Centre Dublin later this month. - 23 Feb 2025Lakelanders impress at McCullagh International Gala
Four Enniskillen Lakelanders Club swimmers qualified for the prestigious McCullagh International swim meet, held at Bangor’s Aurora Aquatic Centre over three days last week.
A huge achievement in itself, this was a unique opportunity to compete against the best in Ireland and further afield. The event attracted a large contingent of competitors from overseas, including Olympians! - 16 Feb 2025Lakelanders Swim to Success in Lisburn
A squad of 25 Enniskillen Lakelanders’ swimmers attended the Swim Belfast Meet on Sunday the 16th of February in Lagan Valley Leisureplex, Lisburn. The gala was a great success for the Fermanagh swimmers who returned home with numerous medals and personal best times.
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