The Enniskillen Lakelanders Provincial Towns League team secured promotion following their trip to Greenvale Leisure Centre on Saturday evening to compete in their final league meet of the season. On their first season back in the PTL the Lakelanders were unbeaten after wins against Alliance, Strule and Armagh but Mid Ulster were also unbeaten in the league.
There were a few absentees who were preparing for the Swim Ulster Development Gala the following day in Lisburn but the visiting side got off to a great start winning seven out of the eight medley relays and rushing in to a 14 point lead. The Individual events were going to prove much tougher.
The 50m Backcrawl events were exciting from the start. Wins by Niamh O’Kane, Natasha Love, Jake Cadden and Oisin McCaffery were followed up by a fantastic first place by Kealan McShea and Justin Langford. There were great personal bests by Dara Flanagan, Caitlin Love, Peter Dolan, Annie Flynn and Rory Morris. Enniskillen were now 40 points ahead.
This was followed by the Breaststroke where the Lakelanders recorded another six wins by Ellie McCartney, Natasha Love, Jake Cadden, Oisin McCaffrey, Connor O’Hare and a fantastic first ever top sport by one of our ‘Masters’ – Paul Carron, with almost two seconds off his PB. Other new PBs came from Tara McKenzie, Sorcha Lavelle, Lewis McCartney, Connor McKenzie, Molly Flynn and Ciaran Flanagan. The visiting team were now stretching their lead to 52 points.
The ‘Fly Week’ seems to have paid dividends with six our of eight wins in the groups by Ellie McCartney, Niamh O’Kane, Natasha Love, Jake Cadden, Connor McKenzie and also Justin Langford. Most swimmers bettered their best times including Anna McDade, Méabh Dolan, Sophia Williams, Sorcha Lavelle, Kealan McShea and Lewis McCartney. The gap had now widened to 66 points.
The Freestyle produced 10 more PBs for the Lakelanders from Ciosa McConnell, Jake Cadden, Nial Bruce, Niamh O’Kane, Méabh Dolan, Lewis McCartney, Regan Breen, Molly Flynn and Paul Carron. Ciaran Flanagan also broke 30 seconds for the first time. Top spots went to Jake and Niamh as well as Ellie McCartney, Natasha Love, Connor O’Hare and Ciaran Flanagan. An unassailable lead of 82 points was now the difference.
The final individual event was the Individual Medley were the Enniskillen Lakelanders scored first place in all but one of the eight races with top spots claimed by Ellie McCartney, Niamh O’Kane, Natasha Love, Jake Cadden, Oisin McCaffrey, Dara McGandy and Justin Langford. Massive PBs were recorded by Niamh Henry, Méabh Dolan, Orla Murphy, Ben Lynch, Courtney Breen, Kealan McShea and Peter Dolan.
With only the Freestyle Relays remaining the visiting team were more than 100 points ahead. More great team performances saw this lead extended to 124 points with six out of eight teams finishing first.
When looking at the overall group totals the youngest and oldest group provided most of the points and this augers well for the future of the club. Enniskillen Lakelanders finished with 634 points to Mid Ulster 510 points. Even with the score line this was a very competitive gala and credit must go to the home team who pushed our swimmers to many new PBs and provided superb hospitality afterwards.
Fantastic swims by Ellie McCartney, Jake Cadden, Niamh O’Kane, Connor O’Hare, Natasha Love and Justin Langford saw them unbeaten for the event. Ellie McCartney remained unbeaten throughout the league season.
The final result means that the Enniskillen Lakelanders will be promoted into the next section of the PTL and marks a great achievement for the club that two years ago targeted promotion in both team events within three years. This is the first major team achievement by the Fermanagh club in the last seven years.