Fermanagh Schools swimmers shine at Ulster Schools Championships
10 Dec 2023
Fermanagh Schools’ swimmers shine at Ulster Schools Championships
Swim Ulster Primary Schools Cup and Championship was held in the Bangor Aurora complex on Saturday 9th December.
Excited for this opportunity to represent their schools, 23 swimmers across 9 Fermanagh and Cavan schools headed to Bangor, 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 4 podium finishes and an amazing 15 swimmers qualify for the All-Ireland primary school championship in March 2024.
Enniskillen Integrated PS
Ella Neal (11) collected new PBs in both 50m Breaststroke and 100m Individual Medley, securing a qualification time for the National competition in Dublin in the latter event.
Enniskillen Royal Grammar School
Three swimmers travelled to Bangor to compete for ERGS.
Holly Barkley swam new PBs in 50m Breaststroke and 100m Individual Medley, Holly McCabe collected a new PB in the 50m Freestyle and maintained her time on the 50m Backstroke. Martha McCreesh swam PBs in 50m Freestyle and 100m Individual Medley, securing top 10 finishes in both.
All three swimmers qualified to compete at the National schools’ competition in Dublin.
Holy Trinity PS Enniskillen
A squad of five swimmers made their way to Bangor to represent Holy Trinity PS.
Mollie Kate Brewster secured podium finishes in both her races, having qualified for finals, she picked up a silver medal in 50m Backstroke and a bronze medal in the 50m Butterfly as well as ensuring her qualification for the National competition in Dublin.
Holy Trinity made a further appearance on the podium as Joseph McKenna qualified for the 50m Breaststroke final in 3rd position and went on to push into second place gaining a silver medal and a qualifying time for the National competition in a tight finish.
Elin O’Donohue shaved almost 9 seconds off her 50m Freestyle PB before going on to take 10 seconds off her 50m Breaststroke time to secure her place in the final. She then pushed another 2 seconds off her earlier time to land a top ten finish and her place at the National schools competition in Dublin.
Keira Salcedo swam a new PB in the 50m Breaststroke, qualifying for the final where she finished 4th fastest in Ulster. The 100m Individual Medley event also saw Keira finish in the top five with a whopping 13 second off her PB and qualification times for the Irish Minor schools’ gala in Dublin in the bag.
Natalie Swidani picked up a new PB in the 50m Freestyle event and maintained her seed time in the 50m Breaststroke race.
The four girls formed a relay team to enter the Medley relay, doing their school proud in the exciting race against teams from schools across Ulster.
Lisbellaw PS
Charles Armstrong collected new PBs in 50m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly, securing qualification times for the Irish Minor Schools Competition in Dublin next year.
Mount Lourdes Grammar School
Rebecca Curran swam well in the 50m Freestyle and picked up a new PB in 50m Breaststroke.
Myah Greene picked up fabulous new PBs in both the 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke races.
Sophie Hanna collected PBs in 50m Butterfly and 50m Backstroke along with a place at the National competition in Dublin.
Myleene Leonard produced top 15 finishes in both 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke as well as picking up qualifying times for the Irish Schools’ Competition in Dublin.
Maddie Maguire swam a new PB in the 50m Breaststroke race and had another great swim in the 50m Backstroke.
Rebecca, Myah, Sophie and Myleene did their school proud again as they landed an exciting top 5 finish in the 200m Medley Relay event.
St Aidan’s NS Cavan
Tadhg Murphy secured fabulous PBs in both 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke.
St Mary’s PS Tempo
Daithi Owens secured excellent PBs in both 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke.
St Patrick’s PS Mullanaskea
Conor Collins produced new PBs in both 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke where he also hit the wall in the top 15.
Finn Coyle qualified for finals in both 50m Breaststroke and 50m Backstroke, landing top ten finishes in both events.
Niamh Howell qualified for the 50m Breaststroke final where she secured a top 6 finish and a super PB qualifying her for the National schools competition in Dublin. She went on to pick up a top 15 finish in the 50m Backstroke.
Jakub Mikievicz Lumayad landed on the podium for a silver medal in the 50m Breaststroke final. He had another top 5 finish in the 50m Backstroke final securing his place at the National finals in Dublin in March.
Tattygar Primary School
Clara Leonard collected a new PB in the 50m Breaststroke and maintained her PB in the 50m Backstroke with a top 12 finish.
Crea Mullen picked up new PBs in both 50m Freestyle and the 100m Individual Medley. Both girls have qualified to represent their school at the National finals in Dublin.
These young swimmers have done their schools and Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club very proud in their performances. On a weekend their Head Coach Ben Wiffen shared in the delight of his family on seeing twin brothers Daniel & Nathan Wiffen smash several records at the European Championships in Romania and Daniel lift no less than 3 Gold Medals for Ireland, the club swimmers had lots of inspiration.
A record number of 15 swimmers have qualified to represent Fermanagh schools at the Irish Minor Schools Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin in March 2024, all relying heavily on a rethink of the Council’s plan to cease 25m pool provision for the county as they continue with plans to not seek an alternative site for the new Lakeland Forum.
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