04 Dec 2019

The Swim Ireland designated 'Pathway' for improvement starts with Development Galas and represents the first step on the ladder for any swimmer who wants to progress on a competitive level.

4 Development events are held throughout the annual swimming season and on Sunday 1st December ten young swimmers from the Enniskillen Lakelanders Swimming Club travelled to Armagh, to compete in the second of Swim Ulster’s Development Galas of the 2019/20 season. The Lakelanders swimmers were enthusiastic to try their best in their swims, aiming for PBs and perhaps even some qualifying times in their chosen strokes and distances to help them progress to the next level.

 

Hannah Lynch (10) competed in four races with new pbs in her 200m freestyle and 200IM of 2 seconds and 5 seconds respectively. Hannah also won a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle.

James Mongan (12) was delighted with his performance with a 3 second PB in the 100m backstroke, a whopping 7 second PB in the 100m Breaststroke and a 2 second improvement in the 100m Freestyle.

 

Anna Cairns (12) swam in three races and secured top 10 places in all. In her first race, 200m freestyle, Anna achieved an 8 Sec PB. Anna also swam 100m breaststroke finishing in 4th place in her age group & 100m backstroke where she maintained her previous time.

 

Hayden James (12) had a very successful and enjoyable meet. His first event was a 100m Freestyle where he knocked a whopping 8 seconds of his previous time and placed second in his age group. Next up he swam the 100m Backstroke where he shaved 3 seconds off his previous time and placed third in his age group. Lastly, he swam in the 100m Freestyle event placing 5th in his age group.

 

Darren Woods (12) had a great day swimming. He swam in 3 races, his first being the backstroke; a newfound favourite of his. He achieved a 4 sec PB. His second race was the 100m breaststroke, his least favourite stroke, where he achieved another PB. Darren’s final race was the butterfly where he had a good swim and maintained his time.

 

Luke Aiken swam with great skill and determination in both 200m free and 50m fly. He had a fabulous PB of 17 seconds in 200 free and took second place in his age group. In the 50 fly he took 3rd place against some great competition.

 

Austin Cassidy (12) swam four events, beginning his day with a massive 11 second PB in the 200m freestyle, followed by further PBs in both 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle. He also swam well in the 100m breaststroke, placing in the top ten.

 

Kate McDade (11) swam a super 200m IM achieving a 2 second PB. She maintained her times in both the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke and finished off the day with a silver medal in the 100m freestyle.

 

Saoirse McGovern (12) gained a 4 second PB in the 50m butterfly and another PB in the 100m freestyle.

 

Molly Rice (11) had a successful day out in Armagh, achieving PB's and top 10 finishes in her 4 events. Molly started her day with the 100m Backstroke and a 1sec PB. 100m Breaststroke was next and with a 3.5 second PB. Molly was encouraged going into the 200 IM were she narrowly missed out on a bronze medal with a massive 11 sec PB. She finished the day with the 100m Free and a 3 second PB.

 

Team Manager at the event, Sinead Lynch praised all the swimmers taking part for their efforts saying, 'This success is borne of the many hours spent training in the local pool with early starts on cold mornings no obstacle for these committed young athletes'.

 

---

All news