Enniskillen Lakelanders Host Home Gala
25 Oct 2022
Enniskillen Lakelanders Host Home Gala
Thank you Noel McManus & Mary Ann Salcedo for the photos!
Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club held their first fundraising Gala of the season on Sunday 23rd October, with an event aimed at younger swimmers. Joining competitors from the local club were 9 visiting clubs from around the Ulster region. For many of the 8-14-year-old competitors, this would be their first taste of individual competition, that all important first step for every sportsperson.
Swim Ireland referee Lars Beheme oversaw the 167 excited swimmers in attendance. Lars was supported by strong group of 50 of parents and older swimmers volunteering from the Lakelanders club which helped ensure that the busy gala ran smoothly. It was a successful event for the Lakelanders raising much needed club funds and giving swimmers the chance to put their training into practise and show off their talents with a haul of 54 medals and almost 100 PBs on the day.
Gold medals were achieved by Niamh Howell (8) 50m Breaststroke & Freestyle; Luke Lannon (12) 100m Backstroke& Individual Medley (IM); Clara Leonard (9) 50m Breaststroke & Freestyle& 100m IM; Cora McConnell (14) 50m Breaststroke; Martha McCreesh (11), 50m Backstroke;Ava Neal (12) 100m Breaststroke; Keira Salcedo (10) 100m IM; Conal Walker (14) 50m Backstroke & Butterfly.
The medals continued to flow with Silver positions awarded to twins Rory (14) 100m IM and Ryan Aiken (14) 50m Butterfly; Senan Burke (14) 50m Backstroke & 100m Breaststroke; Emmett Coyle (10) 50m Breaststroke; Lorcan Doherty (13) 50m Breaststroke & Freestyle; Luke Lannon (12) 100m & 50m Freestyle; Clara Leonard (9) 50m Backstroke & Butterfly; Cora McConnell (14) 100m Breaststroke; Martha McCreesh (11) 50m Freestyle; Ryan Mongan (12) 50m & 100m Breaststroke; Jakub Mikiewicz Lumayad (8) 50m Backstroke; Ava Neal 50m Breaststroke; Maia Rolston-McAuliffe (8) 50m Breaststroke; Siblings Emma (11) 50m & 100m Breaststroke and Sarah Speer (13) 50m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke & 100m IM;
Bronze medals were secured by Ryan Aiken (14) 50m Backstroke; siblings Daire (10) 50m Breaststroke, Enda (12) 50m Backstroke and Senan Burke (14) 100m Freestyle; Michael Carron (9) 50m Breaststroke,Freestyle& Butterfly; Conor Collins (9) 50m Backstroke; Sophie Hanna (10) 100m IM;Mavis Man(8) 50m Breaststroke; Martha McCreesh (11) 50m Butterfly;Jakub Mikiewicz Lumayad (8) 50m Breaststroke& Freestyle; Ava Neal (12) 50m Freestyle; Erin Salcedo (12) 100m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke & 100m IM with younger sister Keira (10) bagging the bronze medal in the 50m Breaststroke;
Not only did the local swimmers excel on the medals count but many impressed their coaches by achieving PBs across all their races including twins Rory & Ryan Aiken (14), siblings Daire (10), Enda (12) and Senan (14) Burke, Emmett Coyle (10), Luke Lannon (12), Myleene Leonard (11), Holly McCabe (11), Cora McConnell (14), Martha McCreesh (11), Katie McGowan (10),Jessica Millar (11), Caelan Moore (12), Ava Nugent (11), Pranay Pacha (12), Maeve Rolston-McAuliffe (11), sisters Erin (12) & Keira (10) Salcedo, and Conal Walker(14).
Strong performances with many PBs across their entries were also recorded on the day by Holly Barkley (11), Josh Cassidy (12), Darragh Collins (11), Mirko Man (11), Russell Mikiewicz Lumayad (12), Anton Neal (11), Ella Neal (10) and Tori Reid (12).
A large number of our young swimmers were competing at an individual meet for the first time – some of whom have only joined the club in the past three weeks including Shannon Brennan (11), Michael Carron (9), Conor Collins (9), Rebecca Curran (11), Lorcan Doherty (13), Lucy Gallagher (11), Niamh Howell (8), Mavis Man (9), Tiana Mbeulani (9), James McSorley (9), Jakub Mikiewicz Lumayad (8), Caelan Moore (12), Crea Mullen (10), Maia Rolston-McAuliffe (8), Kealan Rice (9), Harvey Simmons (11) and Finley Walker-Leonard (11).
Chairperson Aideen Speer expressed her thanks to a wide range of people who all came together to make the Junior gala a success - praising all club members for their help and support, events like these can only run with the help and hard work of the volunteers. Thanks are also expressed to the staff at the Fermanagh Lakeland Forum for facilitating our event. The club are indebted to the generous sponsorship provided by local businesses (Cassidy and McCreesh Orthodontic Practice, MTL Marine, SCH Construction, Erne Holistics, Mannok, Encirc, Office Repair Centre, Eadie McFarland, Harold Graham). We are also very grateful to all parents who donated and sourced a large number of wonderful raffle prizes and donations to our gala cafe.
Aideen praised Michelle Reihill, gala secretary for her trojan work behind the scenes and for the smooth running of the gala. She also thanked all the coaching team made up of mostly volunteers for their commitment to all the swimmers. The support of the coaching team ensured we had a competitive event which was also an enjoyable learning experience for all. The Lakelanders Club endeavours to make swimming fun for everyone and that happened today, it was clear to see from all the smiling faces of our own swimmers and our visiting competitors. We now look forward with renewed confidence to a great year of swimming.
The Senior swimmers are in action next weekend with the three-day Ulster Short Course meet in Belfast, good luck to all our competitors.
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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! - 24 Mar 2024Swimmers Sparkle for their Schools at Irish Minor Schools National Competion
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