Awesome Swimming At SU Autumn Qualifier 2019
21 Oct 2019
With the Irish swimming season now in full swing, the first Ulster Regional Qualifying Gala for 2019/20 took place last weekend at Lagan Valley Leisureplex. 18 local swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club made the journey to Lisburn with some familiar faces and some new potential stars attending a Regional Qualifying meet for the 1st time.
Recently promoted from Development galas, Tom Buchanan (11) typified the younger swimmers attending this level event for the 1st time. Tom was delighted to perform well against his peers in all races, most notably in the gruelling 200m Butterfly where he secured a Silver medal.
Older brother Frank (12) tackled two new events; the 200m Butterfly and the 400m Medley performing well in both placing 4th and 3rd respectively.
Jamie Lannon entered 8 races for this meet gaining top 5 finishes in the 200m Free and 200m Medley. Happily Jamie came away with bronze medals in the 50m Breast, Back & Butterfly, with Silver in the 100m Fly and Finally gold in his first 400m Medley...a great start to the season for this up and coming 11yr old.
Older sister Isobel also achieved PBs across her 8 chosen events, attaining Ulster short course times in her first ever 400m Medley, 200m Freestyle and 200m Medley. Isobel was proud of her finishes in all events achieving the Bronze medal in the 50m,100m & 400m Freestyle, plus Silver in the 200m Free and Gold in the 50m Backstroke.
Cíosa McConnell competed in 5 events over the 2 days, swimming well in the 100m and 200m Breastroke and gaining 2 personal best (PB) swims in the 200m and 400m Freestyle whilst her first attempt at the 400m Medley saw her come home with a well earned Bronze Medal.
Eimear Magee's first event was the tough 200 metre Butterfly, where she produced an impressive swim to bag a Silver medal. Then in the 100m Freestyle she produced a personal best (PB) time with a top 10 finish in the 50m Butterfly.
Dara Ronan (15) in his first Qualifying Gala representing the Lakelanders started off with the 200m Freestyle where he posted a PB, before securing a Bronze in the 200m Medley. The 100m Fly. On Sunday morning Dara started with the 200m Fly and took Silver, with another Silver in the 400m IM bringing his weekend medals tally to 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze from 8 races entered, surely a swimmer to watch.
Cora Rooney (14) was also swimming in her 1st Qualifying Gala as a Lakelander taking part in 6 events across the weekend. Cora finished the meet with Silver medals in the 50m Back, 50m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly, whilst netting a Gold for the 5om Butterfly.
Cora Cassidy’s first ever qualifying gala started with the challenging 400m Medley, followed closely by the 200m Backstroke with times established for the future. Sunday was Cora's toughest day of swimming with the 200m Freestyle, the 100m Backstroke, 200m Medley, 400m Freestyle and 50m Freestyle events. She acquitted herself well in all achieving a PB swim in the 400m Freestyle.
Anna Mc Dade(13) was tackling the 400m IM for the first time, she impressed with a finish under 6 minutes. Day 2 of the event saw Anna take part in the 200m Free and 200m Medley setting benchmark times. Then, in her favoured 200m Breaststroke, she achieved a PB, breaking the 3 minute mark to secure a bronze medal ..all in all valuable experience and plenty to work for the season ahead.
Ben Lynch (16) entered six races over the two day event. He competed in his favoured Freestyle events maintaining PBs and picking up the Silver medal in the 400m freestyle. Ben also tried out the 200m Butterfly finishing in 5th place and the 400m IM finishing in 4th place.
Emilie Reihill (13) had a busy weekend with 8 events; 100m Breaststroke, the challenging 200m Butterfly which Emilie competed in for the first time, 200m backstroke (PB), 4th place finish in 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle (PB), 100m Backstroke (PB), 400m Freestyle first time SC, and finished the weekend off with the 50m Freestyle.
Kealan McShea (17) competed in 6 races over the weekend. Swimming close to his PBs in all races and achieving a bronze medal in his debut for the 200m Butterfly.
Oisin Mc Manus returned to regional level competition after his previous season beset with illness. On day one he impressed with a Silver medal in 200m Breastroke and Bronze in 200m Medley, whilst on Day 2 he bagged another Silver in the 400m Medley and a 4th place in the 200m Backstroke.
Ellie Dunlop (10) the youngest Lakelander to compete, swam four events over the weekend and her efforts were rewarded with three medals, Gold in her first ever swim of 400m Medley, Silver in 100m & 200m Breaststroke with fourth place in 200IM, PBs in 3 out of the 4 races.
Molly Johnston's (14) 1st Qualifying gala saw her off to a great start with a new PB in her 100m Breast followed closely by a Silver medal in the 400m Medley. Day 2 started with a further PB of 38s in the 200m Freestyle, a strong race in the 100m to maintain her previous time.
Local, regional and national star, Ellie McCartney competed in eight events over the weekend returning with 6 Gold Medals and 1 Silver Medal. The 14-year-old recorded 4 PBs and brought her total Qualifying times for the Ulster Short Course Meet to fifteen and well as setting 5 new club records in her age group. Ellie was the fastest female in the pool (across all age groups) in both the 50m Breaststroke and the 200m IM over the weekend.
??17-year-old Lewis McCartney set new Short Course personal bests in 100m Freestyle, 100m Backcrawl, 100m Fly and 100m IM as well as setting 5 new club records in his age, with 200m Breaststroke earning him a Bronze Medal. Swimming in the Open age group, Lewis increased his Ulster Short Course consideration qualifying times to nine for next month’s championship.?
Head Coach Aaron Rickhuss had these words for all who took part: ' Well done to everyone this weekend! You were awesome! Lots of intelligent swimming. All who swam in either the 200m fly or 400m IM, you should be very proud of yourselves! Foundations have been set for what will hopefully be a great season ahead'.
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With the 2024/2025 swimming season coming to an end, the finale for the competitive swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders is the Irish Summer National competitions. There is great excitement among the 6 Lakelanders swimmers who have qualified to compete at the Age Group Championships in Limerick.
Thursday 10th July sees the start of the 4 day Irish National Age Group Championships for swimmers aged 14 and under in the UL Sport Complex at the University of Limerick. Six Lakelanders have qualified to attend, two of whom are competing at this level for the first time. - 29 Jun 2025Enniskillen Lakelanders Celebrate Season Successes
Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club held their annual End of Season Gala last Saturday 28th June. This marks the end of the club's a very different 10 month season swimming in two counties across the FODC council. The gala is an opportunity for swimmers across all groups to compete side by side and a fun relay to round of the event. - 22 Jun 2025Medals and PBs galore for the Lakelanders at Summer Gala in Lisburn
Swim Ulster’s Swim Festival 2025 took place in Lisburn's Lagan Valley Leisureplex on Sunday the 22nd of June.
A squad of 18 Enniskillen Lakelanders’ swimmers, along with Head Coach Fionna Orr, made their way to Lisburn for the event. - 08 Jun 2025Medals and PBs for Lakelanders at Banbridge Open
Banbridge Open Long Course Meet took place in Craigavon’s South Lakes Leisure Centre on Saturday the 7th of June.
A squad of 13 Enniskillen Lakelanders’ swimmers, along with Head Coach Fionna Orr, made their way to the fabulous South Lakes Leisure Centre long course (50m) swimming pool for the final club meet of the season for the older swimmers. This meet provided the final opportunity for competitive swimmers to qualify for Swim Ireland's Irish Summer National competitions. As a bonus Banbridge swimming club had extended their invitation to clubs from all over Ireland. The chance to achieve qualifying times and compete against the best in Ireland was too good to miss. - 07 Jun 2025Young Lakelanders fought fierce battle with Lecale in AquaSprints Final
A team of 39 young swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders ASC travelled to the Lagan Valley LeisurePlex in Lisburn last Friday to compete in the A final of this year’s Forest Feast AquaSprints League.
The event saw the young Lakelanders compete in a head to head battle against a strong squad from Lecale Swimming Club, while Swim Belfast and Olympia battled it out in the Division 4 B final, making the night a double event. - 01 Jun 2025Lakelanders success in Bangor
Seven Enniskillen Lakelanders' swimmers travelled to the Aurora Complex in Bangor to race at the Ian Wright Memorial Gala at the weekend. - 18 May 2025Young Lakelanders give Lecale a tough battle for Aquasprint League Round 3
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The annual Swim Ulster competition offers an opportunity for younger swimmers born between 2017 and 2012 to race over 25m sprints in all four strokes, in both individual and relay events.
The young Lakelanders who recently moved to Omagh for training following the closure of their home pool in the Lakeland Forum, took on the battle against Lecale with gusto. - 04 May 2025Quartet of Ulster titles and a slew of medals & PBs at Ulster LC Champs
A squad of 12 swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club attended the Ulster Age Group and Senior LC Championships at the Bangor Aurora Leisure Complex on 2nd, 3rd & 4th May. Competitors from across 32 clubs in Ulster met the tough qualification standards to take part in this key meet over three days, targeting Ulster podium spots, and those important Summer National qualification times. - 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.
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