Five up and coming, young swimmers from the Enniskillen Lakelanders took part with distinction at the somewhat revamped first Swim Ulster Development Gala of the new season took place on Sunday. 
This year Swim Ulster has implemented changes with the introduction of technical assessment of the individual medley and a new event, the freestyle kick. Five of the clubs most promising intermediate girls rose to the challenge and made their way to Orchard Leisure Centre in Armagh. In the morning session the girls put into practice all their training in streamlining, dives and turns. 
First up, Anna McDade came 12th overall in the 100m IM and then went on to take an impressive nine seconds from her seed time in the 50m breaststroke, missing out on a qualifying time by 4.5 seconds. In the afternoon she took part in the freestyle kick and went on to come 16th overall in her 50m backstroke.
Carla Jardine also took part in four events showing great progress in her IM and swimming a new PB in her 50m breaststroke, taking three seconds off her seed time. Following the 100m freestyle kick, she took part for the first time in a backstroke event at a development gala, gaining valuable experience in the process..
Cora Cassidy, age 10 years, had a great start to the morning with fantastic swims securing new PBs in her 100m IM and 50m breaststroke. In the afternoon session and after an exhausting 100m freestyle kick, she showed brilliant progress in her 50m backstroke.
Isobel Lannon showed great improvement in all strokes of her 100m IM. Isobel then went on take three seconds of her breaststroke leaving her in 12th place. Later after happily avoiding the freestyle kick, she took 1.35 seconds from her 50m backstroke, coming 11th overall.
Eimear Magee, aged 12 years, joined the girls in the afternoon and took part in the freestyle kick and finished in the top 10 with a time of 2 minutes 5 seconds. She then went on to produce a great swim in her 100m Freestyle taking a huge 16 seconds of her previous PB with an impressive time of 1 minute 28 seconds. Fantastic results for Eimear as she embarks on her first full season. The girls all enjoyed the day, building on friendships made and making an encouraging start to their season which can only improve further following this experience.