Local swimmers make waves
USSA Ulster Schools Championships
FOURTEEN Fermanagh swimmers represented their respective schools at the USSA Ulster Schools Championships held at the Ards Blair Mayne Leisure Centre in Newtownards on Saturday, April 20. This gala was aimed at swimmers in Key Stages Three and Four and four local post-primary schools were well represented among the competitors.
Enniskillen Royal
Ellie Dunlop (15) qualified for the 50m Breaststroke final where she landed on the podium, claiming a silver medal.
Ellie went on to secure 5th place in the 100m Individual Medley.
Holly Barkley (12) collected a new PB in the 50m Breaststroke. She also performed very well in both the 200m Freestyle and 200m Medley relays.
Mirko Man (12) swam new PBS in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Breaststroke races.
Holly Mccabe (13) claimed a new PB in the 50m Backstroke, knocking three seconds off her time. She also swam well in the 50m Freestyle, maintaining her PB.
Martha Mccreesh (12) achieved a new PB in the 50m Freestyle finishing 5th overall among Year 8 entries.
Martha also took part in the 100m Individual Medley, securing a top 10 finish among her Year 8 peers.
Russell Mikiewicz Lumayad (14) took six seconds off his PB in the 50m Freestyle, followed by another great swim with 17 seconds off his 100m Individual Medley PB.
Erin Salcedo (13) dropped two seconds off her 50m Freestyle PB and a whopping seven seconds off her 100m Individual Medley PB, finishing 1st in her heat for both events.
Holly Barkley, Holly Mccabe, Martha Mccreesh and Erin Salcedo formed the ERGS relay team and secured top 10 finishes in both the 200m Freestyle Relay and the 200m Individual Medley Relay races, hitting the wall in second place in both heats.
Mount Lourdes Grammar School
Hannah Lynch (15) placed 5th overall in 50m Backstroke, ranking 2nd in Year 11.
Hannah also swam a PB in the 50m Freestyle.
Ava Neal (14) hit the wall as the 5th fastest Year 10 in the 50m Breaststroke and the 4th fastest Year 10 in the 50m Freestyle. She secured new PBS in both events.
Kate Mcdade (16) swam new PBS in both her events, winning gold in 50m Breaststroke and bronze in 100m Individual Medley, returning to Enniskillen as Ulster Schools’ Breaststroke champion and securing selection for the Ulster Schools team training camp travelling to London in the autumn.
St. Aidan’s High School, Derrylin
Shannon Brennan (12) claimed new PBS in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle events.
St. Michael’s College, Enniskillen
Darragh Collins (13) had two strong swims in the 50m Freestyle and 100 Individual Medley, picking up a five-second PB in each event.
Luke Lannon (13) entered two events, the 100m Individual Medley and the 50m Backcrawl. Luke was pleased to achieve short course PBS in both events and finished 4th in 100m IM in his year group.
However, the icing on the cake was a podium finish, winning a bronze medal in his favoured stroke, the 50m Backcrawl.
Anton Neal (12) hit the wall as the 10th fastest Year 8 in the 50m Breaststroke and 11th fastest Year 8 in the 100 Individual Medley, also securing PBS in both events.
Conal Walker (16) secured PBS in both of his events. Conal qualified for the 50m Breaststroke final, claiming 5th place.
Many of these swimmers will carry these valuable competition experiences into their preparations for the three-day Ulster Long Course Championships in Bangor in two weeks.