Medals & PBs Galore at the 4th Development Meet for the Lakelanders

22 May 2019

Invaluable experience for Lakelanders as they return home with medals & PBs galore
Thirteen swimmers journeyed to the Lagan Valley Leisureplex in Lisburn to compete in the Swim Ulster Development Meet on Saturday, 18 May. This was the fourth Development Meet of the season and another chance for our swimmers to achieve qualifying times in order to be promoted to Qualifying Meets. The young Lakelanders performed extremely well, returning home with medals and many Personal Bests (PBs).
Hannah Lynch (10) was attending her very first Development Meet. In her first event, the 50m fly, Hannah had a 2.5 sec PB to finish in third place and pick up the bronze medal. In the 100IM, Hannah recorded another PB to finish in seventh place overall. In her final race, the 100m freestyle Hannah gained another PB of 2 seconds and finished in second place.
Cíosa McConnell joined her teammates for the afternoon session of the Meet and swam in 2 events. Cíosa achieved PBs in both swims securing a gold medal in the 200IM alongside a well-earned Swim Ulster qualifying time. Cíosa also picked up a bronze in the 100m freestyle.
10-year-old Tom Buchanan was delighted with his performance in Lisburn. Swimming in 3 events, Tom maintained his time in the 200m freestyle placing 5th overall. Tom then swam his favoured stroke, backstroke, and managed to shave a further 2 seconds off his recent PB which saw him take the gold medal. The final swim of the day was the 100m freestyle in which Tom earned another PB and a bronze medal.
Anna Cairns (11) was swimming in the 12-year-old category. Up first was Anna’s preferred stroke and distance, 100m breaststroke. Anna achieved a fantastic new PB, finishing in third place overall & earning herself the bronze medal. Anna’s second swim was the 200IM where she shaved 7 seconds off her previous time. Anna also competed in the 100m freestyle where she maintained her recent PB.
Luke Aiken (14) also had a very successful meet, achieving PBs in all three of his swims. He narrowly missed out on medal positions in both 100m backstroke and 50m butterfly finishing in fourth position, knocking 3 seconds from his backstroke time and 2 from his butterfly. In the 100m freestyle he also performed well, taking 3 seconds off his recent time. A fabulous day all round where Luke now has a closer focus on qualification times which he hopes to achieve in the near future.
After being a member of the club for only a year, Darren Woods took part in his first ever Development Meet. He competed in three events also - 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle. First up was backstroke,
Darren swam well and now has a new time to work towards.
In his 100m breaststroke, Darren swam with confidence and knocked 4.26 seconds of his time. The final race was 100m freestyle in which Darren again achieved another new time, knocking 7.64 secs off his estimated swim time.

Kate Mc Dade aiming to get experience at competitive swimming enjoyed her experience in the Lisburn pool. Kate had three solid swims in her events; 100m breaststroke, 100m freestyle and for the first time, the 200IM. Kate performed well and set herself target times for future events.
James Mongan also had a very successful day; placing 5th in the 12-year-old category in the 50m Butterfly. James also shaved almost 2 seconds off his 100m breaststroke time followed by achieving an incredible 19 second PB in the 200m freestyle.
Also securing new PBs in each of his events was Kiril Chursin. In his 100m backstroke, Kiril finished in a time of 1.42, a new PB of more than 7 seconds. In his second swim, 100m breaststroke, Kiril finished with a new time of 1.48, an improvement of 4 seconds. Kiril also achieved a new 4 second PB in his 50m butterfly event.
Hayden James (12) who has recently recovered from a sports injury also managed PBs all round, finishing in the top 10 with a 1.77sec PB in 200m Freestyle. He then moved on to the 100m backstroke event finishing in the top 13 and knocking 2.53 seconds off his previous time. His last event was breaststroke in which Hayden achieved a top 12 placing with a fantastic 4.32 second PB.
Lauren Keaney competed in two events, 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle. Lauren accomplished a new PB in her backstroke finishing in 4th place in her age category and narrowly missing out on a medal. Lauren also achieved 5th place in her freestyle for her age group.
11-year-old Austin Cassidy achieved three superb PBs at the gala. Despite losing his goggles at the start of his race, Austin still managed to attain a 7 second PB in his 100m breaststroke race, competing in the 12-year-old boys’ category. He swam to even bigger PBs of 13 seconds and 18 seconds respectively in his 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle.
Older sister Niamh Cassidy, 13 years old, also put in three excellent performances. She accomplished a 3 seconds PB in her 20Om freestyle and a massive 17 second PB in her 200IM. Niamh also maintained her time in her 100m freestyle race.
The Lakelanders were watched closely by Head Coach, Aaron Rickhuss and gained valuable experience and confidence from a great days racing. Coach Aaron was impressed by all the Lakelanders’ performances and stated all the hard work and perseverance by the young Lakelanders is certainly paying dividends.

 

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