Ulster Age Group & Senior Long Course Championships 2023

01 May 2023

Ulster Age Group & Senior Long Course Championships 2023

A squad of 14 swimmers from Enniskillen Lakelanders attended the Ulster Age Group and Senior LC Championships at the Bangor Aurora Leisure Complex. Competitors from across 32 clubs in Ulster met the tough qualification standards to take part in this key meet over three days, targeting Ulster titles, and those important Summer National qualification times.

The highlight of the meet for the Lakelanders was to come from the 100m Breaststroke event with 16-year-old Anna McDade competing in the 17 & Over category returning to Fermanagh as Ulster Champion. Anna further displayed her strength in this stroke with 3rd place finishes in both the 50m and 200m events. Anna also swam to an 8th place finish in the 200IM heats and 11th in the 100m Freestyle.

Also swimming in the tough 17 & over category Emilie Reihill achieved Summer National times across all 3 of her Freestyle events with a 7th place finish in the 400m, 15th in the 100m and 17th in the 50m. Kiril Chursin also showed his progress with PBs across all 4 of his events, gaining an additional Summer National time in his 50m Breaststroke.

4 Lakelanders competed in the 15/16 age category. Kate McDade was on top form for her Breaststroke events with 2nd place in the 50m, 5th place 100m and 7th place 200m. Kate gained a new PB in the 50m Freestyle securing another time for Summer Nationals. A 14th place finish in the 200 Freestyle and 200IM events rounded off a busy meet.

Hayden James had a successful weekend concentrating on Freestyle events with a 3rd place finish in the 800m, 4th in the 1500m, 6th in the 200m and 12th in both the 100m and 400m events. Hayden also secured an impressive PB in the 100m Butterfly to finish in 9th place in the final. James Mongan swam across 5 events notably securing a spot in the 200m Backstroke final where a strong swim to a new PB saw him finish in 7th place. Niamh O’Donnell competed in 4 events and was pleased to achieve a new PB in the 100m Backstroke.

In the 13/14-year-old category Ellie Dunlop performed well in her favourite Breaststroke events with 2nd place in the 100m and 3rd place in the 200m events. Ellie also produced a new PB in the 200IM with a 5th place finish.

Hannah Lynch had an impressive weekend with 3rd place finishes in the 800m Freestyle and 200m Backstroke with new PBs. Hannah also gained new PBs in the 100m Backstroke 7thand 400m Freestyle 6th with strong performances in the 100m and 200m Freestyle. Ava Neal swam to new PBs across all 3 of her events securing Summer National times in the 50m and 100m Freestyle events. Tori Reid produced a good swim in the 100m Breaststroke to gain a new PB. Sarah Speer gained great long course experience in the 100m Breaststroke event.

In the 12-year-old category Martha McCreesh achieved PBs across all 3 of her events with an 8th place finish in the final of the 100m Breaststroke. Emma Speer swam well in the 100m Breaststroke and produced impressive PB in the 200m Breaststroke to qualify for finals and finish in 8th place. Both 12-year-olds were delighted to secure their first Summer National times.

Gala secretary Michelle Reihill praised the performances over the weekend, a testament to the excellent work of our coaching team lead by Head Coach Ben Wiffen. Returning home with an Ulster Title, 9 medals and 28 PBs shows the progress swimmers are making. With many of our swimmers competing at this level for the first time, the opportunity to swim in finals has provided valuable experience for upcoming Summer National events. Many thanks to Swim Ulster for another well-run event and special thanks to the many parent volunteers without whom these events cannot take place.

  

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