04 Mar 2019

An outstanding performance by Molly Johnston (14) saw her bring home two Gold Medals, a Silver Medal, 3 Pbs and 2 Qualifying times. First up was the 200 IM where Molly completely smashed her previous time by knocking off a massive 17 seconds, winning a Gold Medal and achieving her qualifying time of 2.57.79. An outstanding swim, with breaststroke putting her out in front.  Next up for Molly was 100 metre freestyle where Molly gained a fantastic 4 second Pb and a Silver Medal narrowly missing out on a qualifying time. The final swim of the day saw Molly swim her favoured stroke, breaststroke, where she excelled again with an impressive 7 second Pb winning Gold. Molly’s time of 1.25.93 qualifies her for the Irish National Division 2 competition in Limerick in July.  A superb gala for Molly showing her focus, commitment and hours of training are surely paying off.

 

Lauren Keaney also swam extremely well in Newry.  She brought home a silver medal in her 100 metre breaststroke, achieving a new Pb of more than 5 seconds.  She also won a silver medal in her 100 metre freestyle, shaving 6 seconds off her Pb.  In Lauren’s final event, 200 metre freestyle, she earned an excellent 16 second Pb.

 

14-year-old Luke Aiken also had a very successful meet achieving Pbs in both 200 metre freestyle and 50 metre butterfly. In the 200 metre free he cut 9 seconds off his previous time, a distance that he has only competed in once before.  In his favoured 50 metre butterfly, he shaved off valuable seconds, narrowly missing out on a medal and finishing in 4^th place in his age group.  In the 100 metre back stroke, Luke had another great swim and maintained his time.  He enjoyed his success and hopes to build on this in future competitions.

 

A bronze medal and 3 Pbs were achieved by Cíosa McConnell (13).  Cíosa knocked 4 seconds from her 200 metre freestyle to earn 3rd place.  She also sliced her 200 IM by 6 seconds narrowly missing out on a qualifying time by 0.8 seconds and finishing in 4th place. In her final event, 100 metre freestyle, Ciosa also gained a Pb finishing in 10th place. 

 

Annabel Morrison also swam 200IM as her first event.  She swam well and this has given her focus on what she needs to work towards.  Her next event was 100 metre freestyle; she enjoyed this event and took on board the good advice from coach Aaron.  Annabel’s final event was 200 metre freestyle in which she achieved a PB by 5 seconds and thoroughly enjoyed swimming this distance showing great fitness. 

 

Cora Cassidy’s first race was 100 metre freestyle.  Cora had a strong swim which saw her finish with an excellent time of 1 minute 13, only 1 second off a division 2 qualifying time.  She finished in third place however and picked up a bronze medal. Next was 100 metre backstroke.  Cora was in a strong fast heat and achieved another Pb with a 124.40 finish just 1/2 second shy of a development time, finishing in 4^th position. Cora’s final race was the 100 metre breaststroke.   This is not Cora’s strongest stroke but she fought hard and finished in a top five position.

 

Three Pbs were also achieved by Anna Cairns (11).  In her first event, 100 metre freestyle, Anna knocked 4 seconds off her previous time.  She followed this with an improved performance in her 100 metre backstroke, earning a 2 second Pb.  In her favoured stroke, breaststroke, Anna performed impressively to achieve a 5 second Pb & finish in 6^th place overall.  Anna proved her hard work is paying off as she edges closer to her qualifying times.

 

Hayden James (11) swam well in the 100 metre freestyle event finishing in the top 15 and maintaining his time.  Next, he swam in the 200 metre freestyle event finishing in the top 10 and knocking 10 seconds off his previous time. Hayden finished off his day with the 100 metre breaststroke, shaving 3 seconds off his time. 

 

Kate Mc Dade (10), attending her first development meet, was undaunted by the experience. She swam in two events and achieved a massive 15 second Pb in 100 metre freestyle and a 13 second Pb in 100 metre breaststroke and top 10 place.  A notable result for the 10-year old’s first event at this level.

 

10-year-old Tom Buchanan swam the 200 metre freestyle, 100 metre backstroke and 50 metre butterfly in the afternoon session of the meet. He had great swims in all three events and was delighted to come home with a bronze and silver medal in the latter two events. 

 

Georgia Maravelakis took part in 2 races at the event, the 100m Breaststroke and the 50m Butterfly. In the Breaststroke she posted a huge 41s PB and in the Fly, maintained her entry time

 

In all, the Lakelanders produced extremely impressive performances and co-Team Leader at the event , Sharon Morrison paid tribute to Head Coach Aaron Rickhuss saying, 'In his short time with the Lakelanders, Aaron has had an immense effect on the swimmers and the club as a whole.  He has worked hard to fine tune technique and is working on longer distances with the swimmers and this is evident from all the excellent achievements in Newry'.

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