Lakelanders secure medal haul in Belfast
20 Oct 2024
Lakelanders secure medal haul at Belfast Aspiring Champions Gala
(thanks to Mary Salcedo for the photography)
12 swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders swimming club made their way to the Lisnasharragh Leisure Centre in Belfast to compete at Swim Ulster's Aspiring Champions Meet; the first Gala of the season for swimmers aged 13 and over. The event was held over two days, 19th & 20th October. Coaches across Ulster use this gala to assess and monitor swimmers' skills, providing the scaffolding for the building blocks for success in the coming season.
All the work so far on skills and technique resulted in a slew of medals, personal bests and many top ten finishes for the Enniskillen Lakelanders.
Darragh Collins (13) had a fantastic gala. He came away with 5 strong PBs, claiming 4 bronze medals in the 100m and 200m Backstroke, as well as in the 50m and 100m Freestyle. He was most pleased with dropping a massive 18 seconds off his PB in the 200m Backstroke.
Ellie Dunlop (15) hit the wall in first place in the 100m Breaststroke race to secure a gold medal and she was the second fastest 15 year old in a nail biting finish to the 100m Individual Medley event.
Myleene Leonard (13) peeled 3.6 seconds off her 100m Freestyle PB, claiming a bronze medal. She went on to collect new PBs in the 50m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke events, securing a silver medal.
Hannah Lynch (15) swam new PBs in the 400m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke winning two gold medals and a silver.
Martha McCreesh (13) took part in 4 races over the weekend. The 100m Freestyle saw Martha pick up a silver medal for her time. In her next 3 races; the 200m Individual Medley, the 100m Freestyle and the 100m Backstroke, Martha collected a further 3 bronze medals and gained a new PB in the 100m Freestyle.
Kate McDade (16) had an impressive start to the season with PBs across all events entered, along with a total of 5 gold medals home to Enniskillen. Kate was the first 16 year old to hit the wall in 100m & 200m Breaststroke,100 & 200m Individual Medley and the 100m Freestyle. She now looks forward to the Ulster Short Course Championships, and has also secured qualifying times for the National Short Course Finals in December.
Russell Mikiewicz Lumayad (14) took part in three events. He took an amazing 17 seconds off his 200m Individual Medley PB, followed by 9 seconds off his 100m Freestyle, finishing with another PB in 50m Freestyle.
Ryan Mongan (14) shaved a whopping 8.8 seconds off his PB in the 200m Freestyle, securing a bronze medal. He went on to take 3 seconds off his entry time in the 100m Breaststroke race.
Maeve Rolston-McAuliffe (13) had a great weekend competing in her first Aspiring Champions gala, securing new PBs in all her swims. Maeve won bronze medals for her times in the 100m and 200m Freestyle events, and bagged a silver in the 50m Freestyle. She also dropped almost 12 seconds off her 200m Individual Medley PB, but missed out on a medal by a fraction of a second. All in all, a successful weekend of swimming for Maeve!
Erin Salcedo (14) claimed a silver medal in the 200m Freestyle along with a new PB. Erin also clocked new PBs in the 100m Butterfly and 50m Breaststroke events, hitting the wall in the top ten ranking in the latter.
Emma Speer (13) had a great weekend at the first gala of the season. She was delighted the her 100m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle times and very pleased to secure 3 second PBs in both her 100m Freestyle and 200m Individual Medley.
Emma secured 5 medals over the gala, 4 silvers and one bronze.
Conal Walker (16) took part in 7 events across the two days, achieving PBs across the board. He was awarded silver medals in the 100m Breaststroke, 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle. He was awarded bronze in the 200m Breaststroke event.
Head Coach Ben Wiffen was pleased to see the swimmers’ dedication to training pay off with a great start to the competitive season. The swimmers benefitted greatly from his guidance on racing approach & strategy throughout the two day gala. One of the Team Managers over the weekend, Sinead Lynch, praised all the club volunteers who helped out over the two days but also hailed the swimmers for their maturity in how they approached this start to the new racing season saying, 'The 12 Lakelanders here this weekend have done themselves and their club proud with amazing individual swims. The team spirit amongst these young athletes throughout the two days was fantastic to see, a shining example for our club and for our younger swimmers back home in particular’.
We look forward to our Junior Gala on Sunday 10th November where junior swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders will enjoy competing against visiting swimmers from other clubs from the surrounding regions. Our senior swimmers will form an important part of the team of volunteers needed to run this type of gala, ensuring an enjoyable event for the younger swimmers as well as hopefully raising some much needed funds for Enniskillen Lakelanders ASC.
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Thursday 10th July sees the start of the 4 day Irish National Age Group Championships for swimmers aged 14 and under in the UL Sport Complex at the University of Limerick. Six Lakelanders have qualified to attend, two of whom are competing at this level for the first time. - 29 Jun 2025Enniskillen Lakelanders Celebrate Season Successes
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A squad of 18 Enniskillen Lakelanders’ swimmers, along with Head Coach Fionna Orr, made their way to Lisburn for the event. - 08 Jun 2025Medals and PBs for Lakelanders at Banbridge Open
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A team of 39 young swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders ASC travelled to the Lagan Valley LeisurePlex in Lisburn last Friday to compete in the A final of this year’s Forest Feast AquaSprints League.
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The young Lakelanders who recently moved to Omagh for training following the closure of their home pool in the Lakeland Forum, took on the battle against Lecale with gusto. - 04 May 2025Quartet of Ulster titles and a slew of medals & PBs at Ulster LC Champs
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Swim Ireland’s Irish Open Swimming Championships started on Saturday (12th April) at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. The 5-day event saw over three hundred swimmers from over fifty clubs compete for National titles in thirty-four individual events. The competition saw twelve Championship Records broken as well as three Irish Senior and four Irish Junior Records across the five days of racing as swimmers aimed for places on Senior National Teams. This meet is also the first opportunity for athletes to qualify for the Regional and National programmes for the 2025-2026 season. Three swimmers from the local Enniskillen Lakelanders swim club attended the prestigious meet keen to compete with the best in the country and witness some of the top swimmers the world in action.
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