Lakelanders Storm the Swim Ulster Long Course Championships
29 Apr 2019
Hurricane Hanna came to Ulster over the weekend, but it was the Enniskillen Lakelanders that stormed the Swim Ulster Long Course Championships. The three-day event saw a dozen local swimmers race against the best in the province with 1638 entries over 288 heats. The club left the Meet with 8 Ulster Titles and Gold Medals ????????????????, 4 Silver Medals ???????? and 2 Bronze Medals ???? and more than 50 personal best times showing the improvement made under the guidance of Aaron Rickhuss. The event broken into three session with the 15 and older swimmers first thing followed by the 11-14 aged swimmers. Each evening the finals took place in the 50m competition pool at the Aurora.
Seven of the nine younger swimmers were competing at this Ulster level for the first time. Ellie McCartney lead by example winning Five Gold Medals ?????????? and Ulster Titles as well as a Silver Medal ??. The 14-year-old touched first in her age group in the 200m for the 5th year in a row while competing in the 200m Breaststroke. She achieved top spot in the 100m Breaststroke for the 4th time as well as adding the 200m and 400m IM titles over the weekend. Ellie’s swim of the weekend came in the 200m Freestyle when she improved her seeding from 8th to 1st and lifted her first ever Ulster Freestyle Title. a massive PB of 2:11.68 and smashing the club record for her age. The local swimmer showed her versatility by lifting a Silver Medal in the 100m Backcrawl making it 6 medals from 6 events over the weekend.
Anna McDade also won a medal in the 200m Breaststroke – The 12-year-olds first Ulster Age Group Medal was a Bronze ?? in a fantastic battle against a swimmer aged one year older. The new time of 3:02.75 sees Anna edge closer to that breaking that magic 3-minute mark. Earlier in the week Anna had finished 5th in the 100m Breaststroke, 15th in the 50m Freestyle with a new PB, and 17th in the 200m IM with another 3 second PB. Anna showed real grit to PB in the 200m Freestyle to finish 19th overall in the 13-14 age group.
Isobel Lannon (12) was on top form on Friday hitting a new of time of 1.26.56 in the 100m breast stroke placing her in the final. Izzy had a nice PB in the 50m free and was thrilled to smash her 400m free achieving her 6th division 1 time. Known for her strong work ethic, Izzy showed steady improvement throughout the weekend with further PBS in the 800 and 400m free on Saturday. Isobel was not disappointed on Sunday as she achieved PBS in her 200m breast stroke and 200m IM and a place in the final. Isobel was very proud of a productive weekends swimming.
Jamie Lannon (11) was our youngest Lakelander to compete, and his star potential shone brightly over the weekend. Jamie competed in each 100m event ,the breaststroke, back ,fly and free with the addition of the 200m IM, 200free and 400m Freestyle. Exceptional swims saw him achieve up to 7second PBS and reach the finals in every event coming in from 4th to 6th place in the 11-12 age group. Although only 11 yrs old Jamie also attained 12yr old division qualifications in all his 7 events seeding him very well for his national finals in the summer. The future looks very exciting for this impressive young athlete.
Frank Buchanan competed in six events over the weekend and achieved personal bests in each event as well as reaching the final in the 100m Backcrawl. Frank had a phenomenal swim in the 800m Freestyle, finishing first in his heat by a comfortable margin - 2nd fastest thirteen-year-old and smashing his previous best by 16 seconds. Frank placed 2nd and 3rd amongst the 13-year-olds in his favoured Backstroke events, as well as adding another Division 1 time in the 200m Backstroke. A fantastic meet for this young swimmer who has progressed up through two divisions since the start of the season.
Molly Johnston swam to another Irish Summer National time in the 100m Breaststroke with a new long course PB of 1:28.23 to finish 13th in the age group. On Sunday Molly return to the Aurora and finished 18th in the 200m Breaststroke.
Ciosa McConnell also swam in the 100m and 200m Breaststroke over the weekend reaching the final of the former to finish 8th in the 13-14 age group. On Sunday Ciosa placed 13th in the 200m Breaststroke in a time that qualifies her for another swim in the Irish Summer Nationals.
Thirteen-year-old Emilie Reihill concentrated on the freestyle events over the weekend and placed in the top 20 in both the 50m and 100m Freestyle events – a 1 second PB in the latter. In the 400m Freestyle Emilie finished 21st in the 13-14 age group.
Annabel Morrison travelled to her first major gala to participate in the 200m Breaststroke. It was great experience for the 13-year-old who finished 25th overall.
The club also entered Relays in three of the 14 and under events. Anna McDade, Izzy Lannon, Emilie Reihill and Ellie McCartney finished 4th overall in the 4 x 100m Medley Relay while Anna, Izzy and Ellie were joined by Molly Johnston on Saturday for the 4 x 100m Freestyle and finished sixth. On Sunday Izzy and Ellie teamed up with Jamie Lannon and Frank Buchanan for a 4 x 100m Medley Relay and swam to another 6th place finish.
Ben Lynch competed in 7 events in the 15-16-year-old category over the three days making finals in all events and getting several new PBs. Ben performed well in his favourite stroke of Freestyle to win Gold in the 1500m ??, 800m ?? and 400m ?? and Bronze in the 200m ??. He also finished in 4th place in the 200m Backstroke, 6th place in the 200m IM and 10th place in 100m Freestyle.
Kealan McShea had another fantastic Meet in the difficult 17 and older age group and returned with Silver Medals in both the 50m ??and 100m Backcrawl ?? with PBs. He followed these up with a 6th place and PB in the both the 100m and 200m Freestyle leaving the Lakelander in a great position for the Irish Summer Nationals.
Lewis McCartney continued the Medal trend over the weekend for the older swimmers and swam to a fabulous Silver Medal and a massive PB in the 200m Backcrawl ?? with a new club record of 2:20.58. Lewis also broke the club 50m record in the 50m Freestyle with a time of 25.92 and swam to a fourth place in the 200m Breaststroke, a seventh place in 100m Breaststroke (an additional Irish Summer Nationals time) and a 7th place in the 100m Freestyle. A top 10 finish followed in the 200m Freestyle leading to another wonderful weekend for the local swimmer.
Coach Aaron Rickhuss stated “With our successes this weekend and dominance across the field, we have certainly marked our ground across Ulster as a swimming club where we look forward to the summer, aiming to create the same success and impact on the national stage. Full credit must go to each individual swimmer who has been committed to their sport, representing Enniskillen and gaining well deserved recognition within Ulster and Irish swimming.”
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