Huge Medal Haul at Autumn Qualifier for Lakelanders

11-year-old Frank Buchanan was delighted with his first trip to a Qualifying Gala. First up, he swam the 200m IM taking 1.07 seconds off his time. Frank then swam the 200m backstroke and achieved a Div 2 qualifying time and 5th place overall. After lunch Frank’s final swim of the day was the 400m Freestyle. Having never competed at this distance before, he was delighted to place 5th and have a solid starting point to work from over the remainder of the season.

12-year-old Isobel Lannon approached this 2 - day competition as an opportunity to develop technique and started the meet placing 4th in the 100m Breastroke. Having plateaued in her Butterfly last year she was pleased to achieve a 5 second PB in a time of 1.24.09. Along with PBs, Izzy went on to achieve 3 Bronze medals in the next events; the 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle. Sunday saw Izzy go from strength to strength starting the morning with a 5 second PB in the 200m IM and a Silver Medal. She went on to win 3 Gold medals in the 200m Backcrawl, 100m Freestyle and 50m Backcrawl. Building on the previous day’s racing, Isobel used her head to achieve a new PB of 3.06.99 in the 200m Breastroke and her final Gold medal of the meet.

10-year-old Jamie Lannon the youngest of the Lakelanders squad was competing in his first Swim Ulster Qualifying Meet. He had a super start to his first day winning the Bronze in the 200m IM in a time of 3.16.72. A fast swim in his favoured Freestyle stroke placed him 4th overall in the 100m. He followed this with his first competitive 400m Freestyle in a time of 5.58.56s and won the Silver medal. Sunday saw Jamie place 7th overall in the 100m Breast and 4th in the 100m backcrawl in a time of 1.27.65. He hit a fantastic first time of 1.30.70 in his first 100m Fly and ended the last day with a Bronze medal win in the 50m Freestyle.

Ben Lynch competed in 7 events achieving 7 personal bests and winning 3 Silver and a Bronze medal. His most notable performances were the 400m Freestyle where he had an 8 second personal best and won Bronze and the 400m IM where he had a massive 15 second personal best and won Silver.

Eimear Magee thoroughly enjoyed the experience of swimming in her in her first Qualifying Gala. A minor technical infringement saw her miss out on a medal in the gruelling 200m Butterfly. However, the experience and great words of advice and encouragement she received afterwards from the legendary Bobby Madine will stand her in good stead for the season.

Ellie McCartney was competing in 9 events over two days and returned with 5 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 7 personal bests. The thirteen year old dominated the Breaststroke events and was in fact the fastest female of any age in the pool for both the 100m and 200m Breaststroke. Gold Medals also followed in 400m & 200m IM and 50m Breaststroke. Ellie continues to improve in other strokes including 100m IM and 50m Fly where she achieved Silver Medals and then two 4th places in the 100m Freestyle & 100m Backcrawl. The times Ellie has achieved qualify her for 10 Ulster Short Course events and 7 Irish Short Course events

16-year-old Lewis McCartney had a fantastic weekend in Lisburn with six great PBs in his 9 events over three days. On the Friday night he swam to a Silver Medal in the 1500m Freestyle. Top 5 finishes followed in the 100m & 400m Freestyle, 100m & 200m Breaststroke, 100m Backcrawl and 100m IM. Lewis now has 11 Ulster Short Course times and 10 Irish Short Course times.

Anna McDade (age 12) swam 8 events. First was 100m Breaststroke achieving a 3 second PB and 3rd place. She went on to achieve a 9 second PB in 200m Freestyle and a PB in 100m Backcrawl as well as a 5th place in 50m Freestyle. On Day two Anna achieved a 5 second PB in 200m IM, a PB in 100m Freestye and followed by a 6 second PB in 200m Breaststroke achieving a 3rd place medal. In Anna’s final event the 50m Breaststroke she achieved a 2 second PB and earned a Gold Medal.

Fresh from his success at the 2018 Summer Nationals, Oisin took Gold in his 1st race of the Saturday session, the 200m Individual Medley, followed by a PB in the 100m Freestyle. Then later that day Oisin followed up with a further Gold medal in the 400m Freestyle, and a Silver medal in the 200m Breaststroke. Buoyed by these successes in a regional event Oisin now sets his sights firmly on the National short course championships taking place in December and the hard training ahead.

Kealan McShea (16) competed in 9 swims over the two - day meet. Testament to his efforts in training he returned home with 2 Gold medals from the 200m IM and 50m Backstroke, 1 Silver from the 100m Backstroke and 3 Bronze from the 200m Breaststroke, 400m IM and 50m Breaststroke. In the remaining 2 swims he swam to 4th place. Notably he achieved 7 new PBs over the weekend.

Niamh O’Kane competed in three events swimming to 2 personal bests in the 200m IM and the 200m Backcrawl. A great swim in the 400m Freestyle saw the 15 year old finish 5th in the age group.

With the Ulster and Irish Short Course Championship in November and December the swimmers can use next weekend’s Schools Cup and Championships as preparation to swim again the province and country’s best.