Enniskillen Lakelanders made it three wins out of three in the South West Minor League with a comprehensive win over East Cavan who were the home team at the Forum as their 20m pool does not meet the required 25m length for this competition.

The Lakelanders dominated throughout and 48 personal bests and 38 first places out of 50 is an amazing achievement in a competitive gala. Congratulations to the following swimmers who were unbeaten on Sunday – Carla Jardine, Jake Cadden, Louie Burns, Caitlin O’Hare, Dara Flanagan, Lewis McCartney and Regan Breen. Massive congratulations to Niamh O’Kane, Laura McCaffrey, Kealan McShea and Rachel Evans who are unbeaten in the South West Minor League. The final mention has to go to Dara McAnulty who competed in the butterfly – the very first time he had swam 50m butterfly – and scored three points for the Lakelanders.

This all meant that the Laklelanders won by a commanding 102 points.

The individual events began with the backstroke. The Lakelanders achieved 8 out of 10 first places; Jake Cadden, Sophia Williams, Rowan Martin, Ben Lynch, Amy O’Reilly, Kealan McShea, Regan Breen and Jack Marvalakis. Sinead Barrett finished in second place along with Anna Gillespie, Méabh Dolan, Brett McLean and Rebecca Conway in their respective ages. Riana Breen achieved a third place – even though she was swimming a year up. Callum O’Hare, Jason Man, Megan Livingston, Peter Dolan, and Owen Smyth all contributed vital points to the overall team total. Kayleigh Bradley West took part in her first SWML and won points for third place. The local side was beginning to build up a lead – ahead by 29 points.

The breaststroke was very competitive in each section and began with Carla Jardine (born in 2006) winning the 2005 age group section with Ciosa McConnell ensuring maximum points for the Lakelanders with second place. Jake Cadden followed this up with a first in the boys section with Connor McLean (born in 2006) coming third in the 2005 section. Niall Bruce (2007) finished a close fourth.

In total Enniskillen Lakelanders gained nine out 10 first places including Tara McKenzie, Jason Man, Dara Flanagan, Courtney Breen, Lewis McCartney, Rachel Evans and Connor O’Hare all reaching the top of the podium. Runner up positions also contributed to points from Sara Harte, Derbhla Duffy, Gerry Nolan, and Jack Marvalakis. More points resulted from swims by Dara McAnulty, Ellie Livingston, Ben Lynch, Kayleigh Bradley West, Connor McKenzie and Rebecca Conway. This superb performance increased the lead to 69 points.

The most difficult stroke tends to be butterfly and Enniskillen Lakelanders managed to keep their nose in front with seven more wins by Louie Burns, Caitlin O’Hare, Niamh O’Kane, Gerry Nolan, Laura McCaffrey, Kealan McShea and Regan Breen. Niamh Henry, Matthew Dolan, Dara McAnulty, Derbhla Duffy, Cathal Rafferty, Connor McKenzie and Kyle Lorensen. Ella Burns did extremely well scoring points while swimming a year up. The Lakelanders continued to stretch their lead to 75 points.

Freestyle was the last individual event and the Lakelanders managed another seven first places, five second places, five third places and three fourth places with good performances from Reece Holmes, Mya Binnion and Kyle Lorenson – in his first competitive outing.

Moving into the final Medley Relays, Enniskillen Lakelanders were in an unassailable lead of 89 points knowing that all point counts toward the final positions for the winner-takes-all final next month. Enniskillen won four out of five of the Medley Relays with only 0.19 seconds denying them a clean sweep. Aine Barrett, Milo Wong, Josh Man and James Wallace (in his first competitive session) ensured that at the end of the relays, Enniskillen won the Gala by 106 points.

Personal Best performances by Isobel Lannon, Patrick Williams, Anna Toal, Lucy Toal and Rachel Nolan showed that the club has great strength in the younger age groups – a credit to the coaches on a Saturday mornings when there are around 50 kids in the pool.

After two hours of fun, competition and support from the large crowd, the final score was East Cavan 447 – Enniskillen Lakelanders 549. A great result that leaves the club lying second in the league with a trip to first place Sligo next Saturday.

The club will need all of its swimmers to be available as well as the parents to ensure the Lakelanders get as many swimmers into the final as possible.