Enniskillen Lakelanders Sparkle at Home Gala in Omagh

25 Oct 2026

Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club held their Autumn Junior Gala on Sunday 25th October at their temporary base at Omagh Leisure Centre, an event aimed at younger swimmers. This was the club’s first home Gala of the new season and there was much excitement among the swimmers from the outset with 40 swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders taking part. They were joined by competitors from thirteen other Ulster swimming clubs. For many of the 8-14 year-old competitors, this would be one their first experiences of individual competition, that all important first step for every sportsperson.

Swim Ireland referee Lars Behme oversaw 1027 entries from the 279 excited swimmers in attendance. Lars was supported by a strong group of over 30 parents and older swimmers volunteering from the Lakelanders club which helped ensure that the busy gala ran smoothly. It was a very 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 large haul of medals and an abundance of PBs on the day.

Gold medals were achieved by Mollie Kate Brewster in 50m Backstroke, Isla O’Donohue in the 50m Breaststroke and Maya McClintock in the 50m Butterfly. For the boys James McSorley claimed gold in both the 100m Freestyle and Breaststroke while Eoghan Donnelly secured the top spot in the 50m Backstroke. In total the Lakelanders picked up 6 Gold Medals.

The medals continued to flow with silvers awarded to Mollie Kate Brewster in the 50m Butterfly and 100m Breaststroke and Freestyle events, Tara Collins in the 100m Individual Medley, Maya McClintock in the 50m Freestyle and Backstroke and Lauren Loizides in the 50 Backstroke.

Among the boys, silvers were secured by Charlie Brewster and Charlie Crawford in the 50m Breaststroke, with James McSorley also claiming silver in the 50m Butterfly and the 100m IM. A wonderful 11 silver medals for the Lakelanders.  

There were also bronze medals for Maya McClintock and Elin O’Donohue in the 50m Breaststroke, younger sister Isla O’Donohue in the 50m Freestyle, Tara Collins in both 50m Breaststroke and Freestyle, and Lauren Loizides in both 50m Butterfly and 100m Breaststroke. There were lots of bronze medals for the boys also – Charlie Crawford in both 50m Backstroke and Freestyle, Conor Collins in both 50m Breaststroke and Freestyle, Eoghan Donnelly in the 50m Butterfly and Ollie Elliott in both 50m & 100m Freestyle.

Club PRO Janette Mongan 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, with particular gratitude expressed for the trojan work of Club Gala Secretary Aideen Speer. Thanks are also expressed to the staff at the Omagh Leisure Centre for facilitating the event. The club are indebted to the generous support provided by local businesses- EVChargers Ireland, R2 Motor Repairs, Encirc, Thomas Hanna & Co, Farmcare Products, Balcas, Cassidy Oils, Hair Square, Severfield, Ardhowen Bay, Western Cars & Lough Erne Resort. We are also very grateful to all parents who donated and sourced the raffle prizes and donations to our gala cafe.

She also thanked Head Coach Fionna Orr, Coach Chelsey Weir and Coach Liam Campbell for their stellar work with all the swimmers. The support of the coaching team ensured we had a competitive event which was also an enjoyable learning experience for all.

Many of these young swimmers look forward now to representing their respective schools at the Swim Ulster Primary Schools Championships in Bangor at the end of November.

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