Fermanagh Swimmers Excel at Ulster Swim festival
17 Jun 2019
Eleven of the younger Lakelander swimmers made the journey to Newry on Sunday for the annual Swim Ulster Swim Festival 2019, accompanied by Head Coach Aaron Rickhuss. It was a very successful day for the Fermanagh swimmers with 6 Golds, 6 Silvers, 6 Bronze Medals and a significant amount of PB’s achieved across all strokes
Hayden James (12), had a very successful meet finishing in 6th place and maintaining his PB in the 50m Freestyle event, he then finished 6th place in the 50m Back crawl event. Most notably Hayden finished 2nd in the 100m IM earning him a silver medal with a 4 sec PB.
Hannah Lynch (10), competed in 5 events. In the morning session Hannah finished in 5th place in the 100IM with a 2 sec PB and 11th in 100m breaststroke. In the afternoon Hannah had 3 more solid swims maintaining recent PBs to finish 11th in 100m backstroke and 9th in the 100 freestyle and 50m fly.
Molly Rice (11), competed in 5 events across the day. Up first was the 50m Free where Molly took the silver medal in the 12 year old category, with a 1 sec PB, leaving her confident heading into the afternoon session. Molly continued to swim well securing a 1.5sec PB in 100m Backstroke, a 1sec PB in 100m Free and a Bronze medal position in one of her favoured events, the 50m Fly. Molly ended the day with a massive 5.5sec PB in the 200 IM, and a top 10 finish in all of her events.
Lauren Keaney (15), had a great day out in Newry, achieving a PB in the 50m freestyle and the bronze medal position. Lauren also achieved gold place in the 100m breaststroke and a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke. Lauren was delighted with her PB’s and her 3 medal positions across the session.
Anna Cairns (11), competed successfully in 5 events in Newry. In her first swim, 100m breaststroke, Anna achieved a 1sec PB and picked up the silver medal in the 12 year old category. She also collected another silver medal in her 50m breaststroke race, shaving 2 seconds off her previous time. Anna then took part in the 100m backstroke, 200m IM and 100m freestyle, achieving new PBs in each and top 10 finishes.
Kate McDade (10), competed in 3 events across the morning session. Kate got off to an amazing start in the 100IM with a 21.57 sec PB and a 6th place, setting her up well for the 100m Breaststroke in which she achieved another PB and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal. Kate finished the day with the 50m Free and she didn’t disappoint with a 1 sec PB and a top 10 finish.
Ellie Dunlop (10), had another successful day at the pool hitting 3.17.17 in the 200 IM. Ellie also won two gold medals and three bronze medals. One of her most notable swims of the day was the 100M Breaststroke achieving a coveted division two time of 1.38.58, although too young to swim at divisonals this year the future looks bright for Ellie.
Luke Aiken (14), attended this development meet with a clear path in mind. He had a very successful day. His morning swims were 50m back and 50m freestyle - finishing in gold position in both. Delighted with his performance he went into the afternoon session looking forward to it and not knowing what was ahead. He was up against some tough competition for the afternoon but managed to get 2nd placing for 100m back stroke. He then just missed out on 3rd place for 100m free. Last was one of his favourite events, the 50m fly, swimming his way to gold position in this swim. Overall a very successful day for Luke, delighted with his achievements.
Darren Woods (12), competed in 5 events across the day. First up was the 100IM, only his second time competing in this event and Darren knocked 9 secs of his times. Up next was the 50M Backstroke, a significant 8 sec PB was achieved. Darren closed the morning session with a PB in his 50M Freestyle, following up with a 1 sec PB in the 50m Breaststroke and a good swim in the 50m Butterfly in the afternoon.
Holly James (10), competing for the first time at this Swim Ulster event achieved 2 fantastic PB’s. In her favoured 50m backstroke event, she achieved a 2 second PB coming sixth in her age group. Three other competitive age group swims ensured Holly had a thoroughly enjoyable and developmental experience.
Saoirse McGovern (12), also competed for the first time at this event and competed in 2 events, the 100m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle. Swimming strongly Saoirse enjoyed the event and has times recorded for improving against in the future.
After the event, Head Coach Aaron hailed the team saying, 'this was a great final meet of the season for our younger swimmers with results that clearly demonstrate how their efforts in training throughout the season have helped them develop. I look forward to great things from this group'.
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