Fermanagh schools were among the medals at the 2017 Ulster Swimming Secondary Schools Gala in Ballymena on Saturday as they competed with distinction against their counterparts from throughout Ulster.

The top 10 boys and girls in the Junior section will be selected for a training camp in Tenerife while the top swimmers in the older sections will train in London at the Olympic swimming pool.

Five Fermanagh based schools were represented by a number of swimmers during the event.

In the Junior section the new Enniskillen Royal Grammar School was attending the event for the first time with Ellie McCartney, Josh Man, Jason Man, Lewis McCartney and Kealan McShea all swimming on its behalf. Ellie McCartney was one of the youngest competitors racing against some swimmers two to three years older.

Ellie qualified for the 100m Breaststroke final matching her previous PB then smashing it in the final to win gold. The 11 year old added a second gold in the 100m Individual Medley to become double Ulster Schools swimming champion.

14-year-old Kealan McShea qualified as second seed for the 100m backcrawl. In the final Kealan smashed his PB by two seconds to take gold. He followed this up with a bronze medal in the 100m IM. Lewis McCartney qualified for both the 100m breaststroke and freestyle finals. The 14 year old was pipped for a bronze medal in the breaststroke final but came back fighting in the freestyle to win a silver medal, but more importantly breaking the 60 second barrier for the first time. Brothers Jason and Josh Man also posted massive PBs during the event and swam with Lewis and Kealan in the 200m freestyle relay, narrowly missing out on a medal by 0.4 sec. Ellie, Lewis and Kealan all qualified for a week long training camp in Tenerife with the Ulster Schools Swimming Team.

Devenish College students Tara McKenzie and Brett McLean enjoyed their experience at the gala. Tara made the final of the 100m Breaststroke with a new PB as well as recording another PB in the 100m freestyle. Year 8 student Brett McLean will be in the same age group next year. He competed in the 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle achieving a new PB in the freestyle in a time of 1:06.66 and was 9th overall. The intermediate section saw five swimmers representing three schools take to the pool. Sorcha Lavelle and Caitlin Love (Mount Lourdes) Connor McKenzie and Rachel Evans (Devenish College) Jack Maravelakis (Erne Integrated).

First up was Caitlin in the 100m backstroke where she swam a new PB to make the final. Caitlin swam another PB to finish 4th in the final. Caitlin also swam a new PB to make the 100m Fly Final. The final was a close affair with Caitlin having to come from a body length behind to take the touch by a finger tip retaining her Ulster title in a new PB.

Sorcha swam in the 200m IM and 100m breaststroke and easily won her breaststroke heat to secure her place in the final where a great performance saw her take silver. The 200m IM, which was heat declared winners, was a very close finish with Sorcha producing a seasons best time to take her second Ulster silver medal.

Rachel Evans swam the 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle. Rachel swam a strong breaststroke and was unlucky not to make the final finishing seventh. In the 100m free, Rachel swam a season’s best to make the final. The final was very competitive with the lead changing between the top three several times over the course of the 100 metres. In a very close finish Rachel secured third and a bronze medal in a new PB. Connor swimming in the 100m fly and 100m free had two great performances making the final of the fly. In the final Connor had a great swim to finish sixth overall.

Jack, swimming in the 100m breast and 100m free, also produced great times to make the breaststroke final. In what was a very competitive race Jack was unlucky to miss a medal finishing fourth.

The intermediate swimmers’ displays should see them in the running for selection for the Ulster schools squad trip to London which takes place in September.