Lakelanders defeat Lecale at first Aquasprint of the season

12 Feb 2023

Lakelanders defeat Lecale at first Aquasprint of the season

The first Aquasprint of the year for the Enniskillen Lakelanders took place on Saturday 11th February away to Lecale at the Down Leisure Centre Downpatrick.  Forty-seven of their younger swimmers born between 2015 and 2010 headed off on the bus full of excitement.

The Aquasprint league, sponsored by Forest Feast, is a starting point for the younger swimmers to compete in all strokes in individual and relays over 25m. Aquasprints are a great opportunity for children to build on what they have been learning in the pool with coaches Claire and Ben and then add  speed to this and a competitive edge.

The Gala began with the Medley Relays (Back, Breast, Butterfly & Freestyle).  First up was Group A who finished in second place. Having moved up a division last season, the Lakelanders knew very little about the Lecale team and pinned their hopes on the older, more experienced swimmers having even better luck which they did with Group B of Kiera Salcedo, Emmett Coyle, Sophie Hanna and Daire Burke hitting first spot. Next up Group C Martha McCreesh, Emma Speer, Darragh Collins and Mirko Man again hit top spot. And finally Group D of Luke Lannon, Erin Salcedo, Ava Neal and Enda Burke ran out winners too.  

Next came the first individual event; the Backstroke with lots of 1st and 2nd positions spots. These included 1st places for Clara Leonard, Jakub Mikievicz Lumayad, Sophie Hanna, Martha McCreesh  and Luke Lannon. There was 2nd places for Crea Mullen, Daire Burke, Myleene Leonard, Ava Neal and Enda Burke. There was also great swims by Mavis Man, Maeve Rolston McAuliffe and Holly McCabe.

Breaststroke next, a stroke the Lakelanders usually dominate and they didn’t disappoint with everyone swimming great and Lakelanders getting six out of eight of the first positions. There were first places for Clara Leonard, James McSorley,  Kiera Salcedo, Emma Speer, Ava Neal and Luke Lannon. There was also point scoring by Maia Rolston McAuliffe, Michael Carron, Sophie Hanna, Charles Armstrong, Holly Barkley, Anton Neal, Mirko Man, Ryan Mongan, Katie McGowan and Erin Salcedo. After this round the Lakelanders had stretched their lead further and the score was 111 to 89.

The Butterfly stroke is one of the most difficult swimming strokes but since Head Coach Ben Wiffen has joined the Lakelanders they have been making steady progress at their Butterfly and this was shown on the day with five first spots and four second spots, ensuring the Lakelanders held their lead heading into the Freestyle round.

The last individual event was the Front crawl where the Lakelanders swam really well again. There were first spots for Clara Leonard, Sophie Hanna, Martha McCreesh and Luke Lannon. Again, there was also great points scored by Molly Kate Brewster, Michael Carron, Crea Mullen, Sam Curran, Myleene Leonard , Russell Mikievicz Lumayad, Enda Burke and Tori Reid.

The final event of the day had everyone cheering on the Lakelanders and again they won three out of the four Freestyle relays. All they had to do now was await the final results.

The MVS (Most Valuable Swimmers) award for the boys went to Luke Lannon who secured four firsts in his individual events and was also on two winning relay teams. Martha McCreesh and Sophie Hanna were the joint top girls with three first places and one second place along with helping their team to two relays wins.

There was lots of great swims on the night for new and less experienced swimmers in other relays; these children are progressing so well, most of them only in the club a few months. These included  Clara Curran, Maria Clifford, Maddie Maguire, Tina Mbeulina, Keelan Rice, Ella Neal, Anna May Hill, Rebecca Curran, Ava Nugent, Luna Murphy, Josh Cassidy, Harvey Simmons, Olivia McCaffrey and Caelan Moore.  They  all did themselves proud and by the smiles on their faces really enjoyed the event.

Following speeches from the new team Captains of Ava Neal and Ryan Mongan the final result was called out Enniskillen Lakelanders 217 and Lecale 183; there was rapturous applause and big smiles all around the Enniskillen team.

Coaches Ben Wiffen and Claire Morris were extremely proud of all the swimmers and of their individual achievement as were the Aquasprint organisers with wonderful smiles, good behaviour and great swimming along with making friends and having fun.

The success of the swimmers and the smooth running of the event was a credit to the coaching team, the swimmers and their wonderful parents for their help, encouragement and commitment to their children without whom these events just won’t happen. Club Chairwoman Aideen Speer acknowledged the time, effort and money it takes to give the commitment to swimming, but stated that the benefits in physical and emotional health as well as self-esteem, discipline and team ethics it brings to the young swimmers far outweighs the cost.

The young Lakelanders will now set their sights on defeating the Olympia Aquasprint team who will travel down to compete in Enniskillen in April. However before that, the club have their Junior Spring Gala on 5th March when they will host many other clubs travelling from across the province to compete at the Lakeland Forum.

 

 

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