PBs, Medals and lots of Nationals QTs for Lakelander's at SU Easter Qualifier
11 Mar 2019
While the Irish Rugby team were trying to regain a chance to win the Six Nation nine intrepid Lakelanders made the now familiar journey to the Aurora Leisure Centre for the Swim Ulster Easter Qualifying Meet over the weekend. With around 1800 entries over 32 events during the 3 days the swimmers were looking to achieve qualifying times for Ulster Long Course and the Irish Summer Nationals – Any medals are always a welcome bonus.
Jamie Lannon has been dominating many of his events this year and the trend continued with Gold Medals in 400m & 200m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke, Silver in 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly and 200m Breaststroke as well as a 4th place finish in the 200m IM. The 11-year-old achieved another Irish QT in the 200m Breaststroke with an extremely focused swim and a 10 second PB.
Older sister, Isobel Lannon, swam in eight events over the weekend including the 800m Freestyle on Friday night were she narrowly missed out on a medal finish 4th. On Saturday the 13-year-old returned to the Aurora and swam to Silver Medals in 200m & 400m Freestyle and 100m Backcrawl (1:18.94) with PBs in each event. Bronze Medals followed in the 100m Breaststroke (with PB) and the 200m IM. A good swim in the competitive 100m Freestyle saw her finish 8th overall and Izzy finished the event with a 5th place in 200m Breaststroke.
12 year old Frank Buchanan has made massive improvements in his technique since the new Coach arrived. Over the weekend he swam to personal bests in 800m Freestyle (finishing 4th with a 22 second PB), 400m Freestyle (11 second PB), 200m IM and 200m Backcrawl where he also collected a Gold Medal. Frank finished the weekend with a fantastic Bronze medal in 100m Back with a PB of 1:17.55 resulting in a Div 1 time.
After recently injuring herself, 10 year old, Ellie Dunlop returned to the pool and saw a massive improvement in her 100m Butterfly to win a Bronze Medal with a 17 second PB (1:43.13). Solid swims in the 100m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly saw season best times on the Saturday. On Sunday Ellie swam to a Gold Medal in the 200m Breaststroke. Great to see Ellie back to her best and ready to return to the AquaSprint team next week.
After an extremely successful McCullagh International Meet Lewis McCartney concentrated on the freestyle events and finished 5th in the 400m Freestyle and 7th in the 100m Freestyle. The 16-year-old kept his best for the second day of the meet with a Silver in 200m Freestyle and a Bronze In the 50m Free (26.71) with Personal Bests and Ulster Long Course times in both.
Anna McDade also continued her recent form with a Gold Medal and PB in the 100m Breaststroke (1:24.15). PBs followed in the 200m Freestyle, 200m IM (both 5th place finishes), 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle. A solid swim in the 100m Backcrawl saw Anna 14th overall. On Sunday the 12-year-old dropped 4 seconds to win Gold in 200m Breaststroke and also broke the 40sec time to win Silver in the 50m Breaststroke.
Kealan McShea returned to competitive action following his success at the Irish Surf Lifesaving Championships and immediately showed he was a great all rounder with medals in both the 400m and 200m IM – Sliver and Bronze respectively. A 5th place in the 50m Backcrawl and 6th in the ultra competitive 100m Freestyle followed. On Sunday Kealan won the 200m Freestyle with a PB of 2:04.75, 5th place in 50m Freestyle and 6th in 100m Back.
16-year-old Niamh O’Kane registered three top 10 finishes over the weekend in the 50m & 100m Fly as well as the 200m IM (with a 4 second PB). Niamh also improved her time in the 100m Freestyle to finish the meet on a high.
Relatively new to long course swimming, Emilie Reihill showed no nerves as she swam to person best times in every event winning a Bronze Medal in the 50m Freestyle. Indeed, the Freestyle seems to be her preferred stroke at present with a 5th place in the 100m and 8th place in the 200m. Top 10 placings in the 100m Breaststroke and 100m Backcrawl (Div 2 Time) followed. The 13-year-old swam a fantastic 200m IM with a 17 second PB but was DQ’d on a technicality. Emile finished the weekend by swimming a 400m Free for the first time in 5:35.77 achieving an Ulster Long Course and Div 2 QT. Overall a fantastic weekend for young Lakelander.
The Lakelanders left the Meet on a high and, like the Irish Rugby Team, know that they can’t rest on their laurels. 32 Personal Bests, 24 Medals and many qualifying times for the Irish Summer Nationals and Ulster Long course were fantastic results but Coach Aaron Rickhuss knows these swimmers have some much more to give. “The young swimmers who attended the meet responded fantastically to the instructions before each race and learnt from the feedback. The journey for the Lakelanders continues with the Irish Open and the Ulster Long Course taking place in the next six weeks”
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