16 Feb 2022

An Impressive PB Count for Lakelanders Swimmers at Swim Belfast Meet.

The inaugural Swim Belfast Open Meet took place in the Lagan Valley Leisureplex on Sunday 13th February 2022. This very popular event was well attended by 26 clubs from across Ulster with almost 2,500 entries across three sessions. This meet provided a great opportunity for both beginner and more experienced competitors to show their progress with 29 swimmers from the Enniskillen Lakelanders Swim Club taking part.

The opening session saw many beginner swimmers start their competitive journey with a number of 25m events targeted at 9 - 12 year olds. Tori Reid, Keira Salcedo, Emily Stewart, Mirko Man, Rua Moore, Emmett Coyle and Anton Neal enjoyed their first experience of competitive swimming alongside teammates Holly McCabe and Russell Mikiewicz Lumayad. The young swimmers performed well putting into practice the skills they are learning in training and had a great time cheering each other on. Top 5 finishes for Russell and Top 10 finishes for Emily, Emmett and Mirko provided a positive start to the meet for the young Lakelanders. Coach Ben Wiffen praised the young Lakelanders saying ‘it was a privilege to witness some of our youngest Lakelanders first competition. It’s so important that their first racing experiences are positive and fun and our big team of swimmers created the ideal environment for them. There was definitely a great buzz of excitement around the Lakeland Forum post-competition from the beginner and junior groups.’

The remaining two sessions were targeted at competitors age 12 and up, with many swimmers aiming to achieve Personal Best (PB) time improvements and Qualification times for Summer Division 2 National Competitions at this Level 3 meet. The two afternoon sessions didn’t disappoint with great performances from all our swimmers.

Luke Aiken (17) competing in 6 events was pleased to set new PBs across 3 events, with a top 10 finish in the 100m Butterfly.

Beth Buchanan (11) returning to training and competition after sustaining a broken wrist earlier in the season performed well over her 4 events and was pleased to swim to a new PB in the 50m Freestyle event taking 6 seconds off her previous time.

Older brother Frank Buchanan (15) also returning to competitive swimming had a successful afternoon achieving PBs across all 4 of his events and achieved 2 Division 2 times for summer nationals. Frank placed sixth in the Boys 15 & over 50m Backstroke with a the top 10 finish in the 100m Backstroke,

Enda Burke (11) also had an impressive afternoon swimming to 4 new PBs across all his events, a great start to his season. Particular mention for a great improvement in his 100m Breaststroke time where he took a fantastic 22 seconds of his previous PB and 10 seconds off in his 100m Freestyle.

Senan Burke (13) matched his younger brothers’ efforts also swimming to 4 new PBs across his 4 events, with a top 10 finish in the 50m Breaststroke with a 5 second PB and a 7 second PB in the 100m Breaststroke.

Twins Aoife and Eimear Carey (12) performed well in the afternoon sessions, Aoife was pleased to achieve 2 new PBs in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke. While Eimear also had a great afternoon swimming to 2 new PBs in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke event where she achieved an impressive time improvement of 11 seconds.

Cora Cassidy (15) saw her hard work on her return to swimming after a break be rewarded with a PB in her 50m Breaststroke and equalling her entry time in the 50m Freestyle.

Younger brother Josh Cassidy (11) swimming in 3 events was pleased to return home with 2 PBs in the 50m Freestyle with a reduction of 7 seconds and 50m Breaststroke events taking 4 seconds off his previous best time.

Emmett Coyle (9) our youngest swimmer attending this meet, swimming as a 10-year-old in the first session had an enjoyable start to his competitive journey beating his entry time in all three of his events, finishing in the top 10 in the 25m Breaststroke.

Hayden James (14) had a great afternoon competing, setting 4 new PBs across his 5 events and edging closer to those National Division 2 times. Hayden, swimming as a 15-year-old was pleased to finish as the third fastest in the 50m Backstroke and fourth fastest in the 50m Freestyle in his age category.

Isobel Lannon (15) had a very successful meet returning to Fermanagh with a Gold medal for the 50m Freestyle, Silver medal for the 50m Breaststroke and Bronze medal for the 100m Breaststroke. Izzy was also pleased to see her hard work rewarded with 4 PBs across her 5 events.

Hannah Lynch (12) was also on top form producing some very strong swims in the 13-14 age group, in her 100m Backstroke she finished the heats as the fastest 13-year-old, following this up with placing as second fastest 13-year-old in the 100m Butterfly with an impressive PB of over 8 seconds. Hannah was pleased to achieve 4 PBs across her 5 events and secure 3 New Division 2 times.

Mirko Man (10) attending his first competitive meet was pleased to swim faster than his entry time in 2 of his events, the 25m Backstroke and 25m Butterfly, with a top 10 finish in the 25m Breaststroke.

Holly McCabe (10) competing in three events across two sessions at this meet was pleased to beat her entry time in the 25m Freestyle and secure a new PB taking 9 seconds off her previous time in the 50m Freestyle event.

Martha McCreesh (10) was another Lakelander who impressively had PBs across all 4 events she entered, a strong performance in the 50m Butterfly saw her reduce her PB by over 9 seconds and finish as the 5th fastest in the 11-year-old age category.

Kate McDade (13) was also in good form taking home two PBs in her 50m Breaststroke and 100m Freestyle, with a top 5 placing in the 50m Breaststroke and top 10 in the 100m Breaststroke, edging ever closer to the Division 2 times.

Russell Mikiewicz Lumayad (11) was another of our young swimmers who had a successful meet with PBs across all his events. Russell started his day with a strong performance in the 25m Breaststroke to finish in 5th place and a top 10 finish in the 25m Freestyle.

James Mongan (14) competing in session 3 saw his hard work in training pay off with PBs in his three events, showing improvements across three strokes, with an impressive 19 seconds off his time in the 100m Freestyle.

Ryan Mongan (12) followed his older brother’s lead with PBs in his two events in session 3, the 50m Breaststroke and 100m Freestyle where he reduced his best time by over 5 seconds. 

Rua Moore (11) had an enjoyable first gala, setting new times for his 25m Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle. Rua was delighted to swim faster than his entry time in the Backstroke and Freestyle events.

Anton Neal (11) another of the young Lakelanders competing for the first time had a successful start to his competitive swim life, setting new times for the 25m Breaststroke and 25m Freestyle where he was pleased to swam faster than his entry time.

Older sister Ava Neal (12) competing in the afternoon sessions was pleased to achieve PBs across three of her four events, the 50m Freestyle where she improved her time by 7 seconds, 50m Breaststroke a 3 second improvement and a 4 second time improvement following in the 100m Breaststroke. Ava was delighted to finished as the 10th fastest 12 year old in the 50m Breaststroke.

Niamh O’Donnell (14) had a successful afternoon completing in three events - the 50m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle and showed her continuing improvement by achieving PBs in all three strokes. Niamh was pleased to finish in the top 10 in the 100m Backstroke.

Tori Reid (12) got her first competitive outing off to a great start in session one where she equalled her entry time in the 25m Backstroke and followed this with the 25m Breaststroke where she was pleased to swim faster than her entry time. Tori followed this up with another great swim in the afternoon session in the 50m Breaststroke where she impressively swam 15 seconds faster than her entry time.

Erin Salcedo (12) had a successful trip to Lisburn achieving PBs across all four of her events in the afternoon session. Erin’s first event set the tone with an impressive 10 second PB in the 50m Freestyle, followed by further PBs in the 100m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly and 100m Breaststroke.

Keira Salcedo (10) enjoyed joining her older sister Erin for the first time at a competitive meet. Keira competed across 3 events in the morning session and one event in the afternoon session. A great start to her competitive journey with time improvements in two of her events.

Emily Stewart (12) is also quite new to competitive swimming. She impressed with great swims across her 5 events. Emily was pleased to come away with PBs in the morning session in her three 25m events, with a top 10 finish in her 25m Breaststroke. Emily was equally pleased to beat her entry times in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke in the afternoon session.

Dara Toner (15) was another swimmer who was successful across all his events. A great start to the gala with a PB of 5 seconds in the 50m Freestyle was followed by a fantastic 50m Breaststroke event with a PB of 9 seconds. Dara finished his afternoon competing with a 3 second PB in the 100m Freestyle event. 

Gala Secretary Michelle Reihill praised all the swimmers who attended, ‘their hard work in the training pool has been rewarded with 77 PBs, 5 new Division 2 qualification times, we are proud of each and every one of them. It is always a pleasure to see how magnificently our swimmers represent our club at every meet.’ Many thanks to Swim Belfast for hosting a great meet. We now look forward to the next event in our competition calendar the prestigious McCullagh International Meet taking place 24-26th February where 5 Lakelanders have qualified to compete in the three day meet. You can watch all the action on the Swim Ireland You Tube Channel – more information will be circulated in the coming days.

 

---

All news