On Saturday, November 26 Enniskillen Lakelanders welcomed Olympia Swimming Club from Belfast to the Fermanagh Lakeland Forum for their Provincial Towns League gala. This was the team’s third outing of the year following their definitive win over Limavady last month, a success which they wanted to build upon. With the usual format of Medley and Freestyle relays and five individual events there are four age groups competing ranging from swimmers born in 2007 to 2001 and older.
It was obvious from the outset that this was going to be a close and hard-fought gala between the two clubs. After the initial Medley Relays, both clubs shared 96 points each, but as the swimmers moved into the individual strokes, the Lakelanders started to stretch ahead in the competition. After the Butterfly, where the Lakelanders swimmers are traditionally stronger than the opposition, a 23 point lead had been opened in favour of the Lakelanders, and this was built upon during the Free and Individual relay where it was stretched to an unassailable 53 points. The final score of 605 to the Lakelanders and 536 to Olympia perhaps disguised how close it was, but when all was said and done, the Lakelanders enjoyed a successful night.
The girls started well in the 50m Backstroke with first and second places going to Isobel Lannon, Anna McDaid, Ellie McCartney, Caitlin Love, Niamh O’Kane, Sorcha Lavelle and Reagan Breen while similar success was achieved by Patrick Williams, Jason Man, Kealan McShea, Oisin McManus and Lewis McCartney who was swimming up an age group. There were great PBs by Ellie McCartney, Sinead Barrett, Caitlin Love, Lewis McCartney, Sorcha Lavelle and Tim Fagan.
More first places for the Lakelanders came in the Breaststroke with Annabel Morrison, Ellie McCartney, Caitlin Love and Sorcha Lavelle all taking first place for the girls while the boys had to settle for second place finishes across all age groups despite Lewis, Oisin, Connor and Josh all having recently smashed their breaststroke PB times. Outside of the 2002 – 2003 boys, Patrick Williams and Tamileigh Gilmour also saw their PBs reduced.
The winning continued in the Butterfly where 6 of the 8 first places up for grabs were won by the Lakelanders. It was a strong result for the girls with Isobel Lannon, Niamh Henry, Ellie McCartney, Caitlin Love, Niamh O’Kane, Sorcha Lavelle and Rachel Evans collecting a first or second place for the Lakelanders while Oisin McManus, Kealan McShea and Lewis McCartney repeated the feat in the boys’ section PB’s tumbled in the butterfly for Isobel Lannon, Patrick Williams, Nial Bruce, Oliver Mooney, Sophia Williams, Caitlin Love, Amy O’Reilly, Rachel Evans, Oisin McManus, Lewis McCartney, Kealan McShea and Ben Lynch.
The freestyle again saw a dominant Lakelanders take 11 of the 16 first or second place finishes on offer. Wins in their heats for Isobel Lannon, Niamh O’Kane, Rachel Evans, Connor McKenzie and Lewis McCartney with PBs for Isobel, Anna McDade, Jamie Lannon, Sarah Harte, Niamh O’Kane, Lewis, Connor and Oisin and Caitlin Martin. Conor O’Hare and Tim Fagan also contributed vital points.
Again, 11 of the 16 first and second places in the Individual Medley were won by the Lakelanders, with notable performances from Isobel Lannon and Annabel Morrison in Group A, Ellie McCartney, Niamh O’Kane, Caitlin Love, Sorcha Lavelle and Rachel Evans in the other girls age groups. Patrick Williams, Matthew Dolan, Oisin McManus, Kealan McShea, Lewis McCartney and Conor O’Hare also added points to the teams total with wins or second place finishes. 7 pb’s were achieved across the Lakelanders swimmers in this event that tests all strokes.
Enniskillen finished the gala by once again winning 6 of 8 of the Freestyle Relays. Great team swims by Anna McDaid, Leah Irwin, Cora Cassidy and Isobel Lannon in the youngest girls group and Nial Bruce, Rory Keogh, Callum O’Hare and Patrick Williams in the youngest boys group saw them take first and set the standard for the older age groups, who also didn’t disappoint.
In total, there were 41 PBs recorded on the night by the Lakelanders which shows the continual improvement thanks to the hard work of the current coaches and the commitment of the swimmers.
The final score was 606 points to 536 with Enniskillen winning groups A, C and D. That’s two wins out of three for the Lakelanders who now look forward to two away trips to City of Belfast on January 28 and Lurgan on February 25.