13 Jul 2025

Lakelanders Sparkle at National Championships in Limerick

Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club were well represented on the National stage at the 2025 Irish Age Group National Championships at the University of Limerick Sports Arena last week. Six young Lakelanders’ swimmers joined almost 700 swimmers from over 100 clubs competing over four days of exciting competition.

Darragh Collins (14) relished the opportunity to compete in his first Irish National Competition, qualifying for 3 events.
Darragh raced brilliantly in the 100m and 200m Freestyle events, with strong PBs seeing him sail up the rankings.
His highlight was securing a place in the Finals of the speedy 50m Freestyle event, where he had a superb race hitting the wall as the 12th fastest 14 year old in Ireland. With an impressive PB of 27.91 seconds, he was delighted to be awarded a special Swim Ireland Certificate in recognition of his time improvement.
A fantastic Championship for Darragh and huge encouragement for the new season ahead.

Sophie Hanna (13) thoroughly enjoyed her 2nd Irish National Championships. She maintained her PB's in the 100m Freestyle and Backstroke. The highlight of the gala was competing in the Freestyle Relay and moving up 24 places in the rankings in the 50m Freestyle after a brilliant swim and PB.

Martha McCreesh (14) secured PBs in all her races including the 50m & 100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. A very satisfactory trip for her 3rd time at the Irish National Championships.

It was a second successful Nationals for Créa Mullen (13).
Qualifying for two B Finals and collecting 4 new PBs across her events. Highlight was finishing first in the 100m Backstroke B Final to rank 11th in Ireland. She was also thrilled to shave 3 seconds off her PB in the 100m Freestyle as part of the 4 x 100 Relay Team.

Emma Speer (14) had a fantastic National Championship. She was delighted to make three finals; 2 Bs and one A final.
Emma was thrilled to finish 12th overall in the 100m Breaststroke, (3 seconds off her PB) and 20th in the 200m Individual Medley (4 seconds off her PB). However, the icing on the cake was to finish 10th in the 200m Breaststroke, clocking a fabulous 6 seconds off her PB. 
Emma also secured a new PB in her 100m leg of the 400m Freestyle Relay and held her time in the 50m Freestyle event. 
A busy few days for Emma with 7 races and a hard few months with the move from Omagh but was made all the more worthwhile with her fantastic results.

Natalie Swidani (12) impressed with a super performance in the 100m Freestyle, gaining valuable experience from her first National Championships.

Club Gala Secretary Aideen Speer praised the swimmers’ efforts over the 4-day meet stating ‘This Championships has been a fantastic event for these swimmers. They have performed extremely well over the meet, focusing on improving their racing strategy, qualifying for several finals and gaining great race experience.'

These swimmers have been training hard over the season, transferring to our new training base in Omagh in recent months with grit and determination.Their success is testament to their dedication in the pool. All the swimmers and their families are also grateful to our club sponsors the Lough Erne Resort, Western Cars Enniskillen and all the businesses that have helped us throughout the year.

Special thanks is reserved for Enniskillen Lakelanders’ Head Coach Fionna Orr and Coach Chelsey Weir for their hard work with the swimmers.

 

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