19 Nov 2019

The Swim Ulster Regional Short Course Championships recently took place at the Lagan Valley LeisurePlex with more than 1000 entries across three days. Enniskillen Lakelanders sent 12 of their top swimmers with some familiar names and a few competing at this level for the first time. 

As usual the Fermanagh swimmers did not disappoint, returning with over 30 personal best swims (PBs), 3 individual Ulster Junior titles & 2 Ulster Junior Relay Titles plus many Irish SC qualifying times and club records.

 

Anna McDade (13) the youngest Lakelander attending got off to a fantastic start on day one, with a 2.5 sec PB in the 200m Breaststroke finishing 15th in the open age group. On Form again on day 2, she qualified for the 100m Breaststroke final with a 1 sec PB. The only 13 year old in the final, she held her own against much older competitors, finishing 7th with another PB. Day 3 saw another 2 sec PB in the 50m Breaststroke followed where again Anna was the only 13 year old in the top 10 only narrowly missing out on the final, a very promising start to the season.

 

Another full weekend for 13yr old Isobel lannon. Izzy took part in 6 events and 2 relays over the course of the weekend. Izzy showed her flexibility in all strokes taking part in the 100m Backstroke and 200m and 400m IM. Izzy maintained her times in both her freestyle events and was pleased  to finish fourth fastest 13yr old in the 400m Freestyle and 3rd fastest 13yr old in the 200m Freestyle.

 

Emilie Reihill (13) having qualified for this event for the first time used the opportunity to build on her experience at this level and was pleased to achieve PBs in the 400m and 200m Freestyle events whilst performing steady swims & maintaining her times in the 50m and 100m Freestyle.

 

Cíosa McConnell (14) swam in 3 breaststroke events over the 3 day period, achieving PBs in all 3 events and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. 

 

Molly Johnston (14) swam the 200m breaststroke where she smashed her PB by over 4sec.  Her second event also brought a new PB in the 100m breaststroke. Molly's final event was the 50m breaststroke where she again swam a new PB.  A great weekend for Molly showing her training and commitment is paying off. 

 

Ben Lynch, (15) entered 5 events achieving new short course PBs in all events. Ben made the final of the 400m freestyle event finishing in 3rd place overall and securing the Junior Champion Title. Ben also made the final of the 400m IM with a massive 8 sec pb to finish in 7th place. 

 

Ellie McCartney (14) competed in 9 events over the weekend and returned with the 200m Breaststroke title for the third time as well as 2 Junior Titles. Ellie has now won this ‘Open’ title as a 12-year-old, 13-year-old and now as a 14-year-old. A fourth place overall in the 200m IM also resulted in a Junior Title. This was followed by a super PB in the 50m Freestyle just missing out on the final. Ellie swam two events on the Saturday but withdrew from the Finals. She also participated in the 4 x 50m Mixed Medley Relay and the team won the Junior Champions’ title. Let’s hope she gets back into top gear for the Irish Short Course next month.

 

Lewis McCartney (17) swam in 5 events at the championships and reached 3 finals as well as setting new club records in most of his swims. He opened his weekend performances with a fantastic PB in the 200m Breaststroke Final of 2:31.93 finishing 7th. This was followed on Saturday with a 4.5 second PB in the 200m Backstroke heat and a 6th place finish in the Final to achieve another Irish Short Course QT. Lewis also swam a terrific 100m Breaststroke to finish in a time of 1:11.02. On Sunday the 17-year-old recorded another PB with a 55.57 time in the 100m Freestyle and broke an 11-year-old short course club record. He smashed his 50m Breaststroke PB (32.47) to reach the final and achieve another club record. The weekend finished as part of the Junior Champions Medley Relay Team where Lewis swam the Breaststroke Leg. A fantastic weekend for the local lad with much more to give.

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Kealan McShea (17) entered 6 events and 2 relays over the weekend. He reached 2 finals, the 200IM and 100IM. A gutsy and determined swim as described by his coach saw him come within 0.04 secs of 1st place in the junior section of 200IM with a pb of 1.13secs. The 100IM produced a massive PB of 2.74secs and a 2nd final. He also swam close to his PB in 200m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle. He had the final leg of the 200 mixed medley relay and pipped Ards to the post to secure the title and also had the first leg of the 200 medley relay in which he got a PB in his 50m Backstroke.

 

Dara Ronan (15) competed in 10 Events, posting 9 Personal Bests in the process. On Friday he started his programme with the 200m Breaststroke, gaining a 5.55 sec PB. In the 50m Backstroke, Dara had a 0.70 time improvement before Dara’s signature Event, the 100m Butterfly saw him finish in a time of 1.02.24. On Saturday Dara swam the 100m Breaststroke in a time of 1.15.05, a PB of 2.65 seconds. With scarcely time to catch his breath Dara was back on the starting blocks for the 100 IM which he completed in 1.07.01. Back to Dara’s favoured stroke, Butterfly, and he swam the 50m Butterfly in a PB time of 28.30. Dara’s last Event on Saturday was the 200 Medley Relay where along with Cora Rooney, Ellie McCartney and Kealan McShea the Lakelanders brought home the Gold to be crowned Ulster Junior Mixed Medley Relay Champions. On Sunday Dara’s first race was the 400 IM where he achieved a time of 5.09.37, followed by the 200m Butterfly. With a time of 2.23.67 Dara made the Final, where again he achieved a PB with a time of 2.19.74. Dara won his second Gold medal when along Kealan McShea, Lewis McCartney and Ben Lynch the boys finished a touch ahead of a strong Ards team to become Ulster Junior Medley Relay Champions.

 

Eimear Magee swimming in first Ulster Short Course Championship took part in the 100m Butterfly. A great swim saw Eimear finish with a season best time and no doubt the experience of this event will stand to her in the coming months.

 

Cora Rooney competed in 8 individual events and three relay teams over the three days. Cora reached finals in 4 of her swims placing 4th in the 50m Back, 100m Back and 200m Back with PBs in all 3 events while finishing 7th in the 200IM.

 

In the Relay events the Lakelanders put on some great performances starting with the Mixed 11&Over 200m Medley where Cora Rooney, Ellie McCartney, Dara Ronan & Kealan McShea - swam an exciting race beating Ards to claim the Ulster Junior Tile - a first for the club.

In the Womens 11&Over 200m Freestyle Relay - Cora Rooney, Emilie Reihill, Izzy Lannon, Ellie McCartney - finished as 3rd place Junior team.

Whilst in the 11&Over 200m Medley Relay - Izzy Lannon, Anna McDade, Cora Rooney, Emilie Reihill - A very young relay team of 13&14 year olds gained great experience against a much older field.

Finally in the Mens 11&Over 200m Medley Relay - Kealan McShea, Lewis McCartney, Dara Ronan & Ben Lynch finished a touch ahead of Ards to become Ulster Junior Medley Relay Champions.

Lakelanders Head Coach, Aaron Rickhuss praised the local swimmers saying, ‘Overall, it’s been an extremely positive meet for the swimmers and the club who appear to continue moving forward going from strength to strength. Along with our recent club and coaching awards, it’s surely this great representation by our swimmers that continues to put Enniskillen on the map in Irish & Ulster Swimming - well done team’

 

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