Last weekend saw seven swimmers from the Enniskillen Lakelanders compete in the Ulster Short Course Championships held at Lisnasharragh Leisure Centre, Belfast.

The local swimmers approached this event with excitement – not least because it was the first major regional competition since lockdown, but also because many were aiming to impress new Lakelanders Head Coach, Ben Wiffen, across 41 individual events and three relays.

The three-day meet got off to a flying start with the 200m Breaststroke event, where Anna McDade (15) secured a new Personal Best and her first Irish SC qualification time of the meet, whilst Dara Ronan (17) also achieved a new PB in this event.

Emilie Reihill (15), Izzy Lannon (15) and Ben Lynch (18) competed in the 400m Freestyle. Emilie achieved a PB in a well-controlled race with both girls gaining experience in race management and strategy over this longer distance.

Cora Rooney (16) performed well in the 50m Backstroke event, dropping below 30 seconds for the first time.

The 200m Individual Medley (IM) saw Anna, Izzy and Ben in action, where Anna and Izzy were delighted to see PBs in the heats, with Izzy securing a place in the final.

The 100m Butterfly event saw Cora Rooney finish in seventh place with another Irish SC time; Anna McDade continued her good form to secure another PB, and Dara Ronan finished in the top 10.

The final event of the first day, the 50m Freestyle, saw both Emilie and Anna perform well to achieve new PB times, with Anna dropping below 30 seconds for the first time.

Swimming in the finals of day one, Cora took third place in the 50m Backstroke with an Irish SC time, whilst in the 200m IM, Izzy set a new P,B breaking 2.40 for the first time to place eighth overall.

Meanwhile, Ben racing in the final of the 400m Freestyle finished in fifth place.

Spirits were high at the start of day two with a fifth-place finish for the Mixed Freestyle Relay team of Dara, Ben, Anna and Emilie, followed by the 200m Freestyle, where Ben, Emilie and Izzy competed with both Izzy and Emilie producing new PBs.

In the 200m Backstroke, Cora secured her spot in the final, and in the 100m Breaststroke, Anna achieved a PB, a place in the final and another Irish Short Course qualification time.

The 100m IM saw Anna again produce a PB swim to secure the Ulster Junior Championship title for this event, alongside her third Irish SC time.

In the 50m Butterfly, Anna and Cora both produced PB times, with Cora progressing to the final where she placed fourth with another time improvement, and her fourth Irish SC time.

Dara also swam well in the heats to progress to the men’s 50m Butterfly final.

The Mixed Medley Relay team of Izzy, Anna, Dara and Ben finished in sixth place.

The morning session was rounded off with Emilie and Izzy in action in the 800m Freestyle, with both girls producing very consistent swims over the long distance event, with Izzy pleased to secure a further PB.

Improved

Finals of day two saw Cora compete in the 200m Backstroke, where she improved on her heat time to finish in second place with her third Irish SC time.

The 100m Breaststroke final saw Anna improve her time and ranking to finish in fifth place.

In the 50m Butterfly Final, Cora placed fourth with another time improvement, and her fourth Irish SC time.

Dara also improved on his time in the heats to finish in fifth place in the 50m Butterfly Mens Final, and secured his first Senior Irish SC qualification time.

Ben swam the final of the 800m Freestyle, rounding off his weekend with a seventh place finish.

On the final morning of the three-day meet, the Lakelanders continued to impress with Cora, Izzy and Dara producing PB swims in the 100m Backstroke.

Cora progressed to the final with her Irish SC time. Molly Johnston (16) joined her team mates on Sunday morning, swimming in the 50m Breaststroke, where both Molly and Anna achieved new PBs, with Anna progressing to the final with her fourth Irish SC time.

Next up for the Lakelanders, we saw Dara in action in the 200m Butterfly, where he progressed to the final.

The final individual event of the morning saw Anna, Emilie and Izzy compete in the same heat of the 100m Freestyle event, with all three girls producing new SC PBs.

The final event of the morning, the relay team of Izzy, Molly, Anna and Emilie, performed well with an eighth-place finish.

Finals of day three on Sunday evening saw Cora improve on both her heat time and ranking to take the Silver medal in the 100m Backstroke, whilst Anna equalled her heat time in the final of the 50m Breaststroke.

This was an excellent finish to the meet for the youngest Lakelander attending, with PBs across all nine of her events, reaching three finals, four Irish SC times, and an Ulster Junior Title.

In what was to be the last event for the Lakelanders, Dara Ronan showed his stamina in the 200m Butterfly, where he produced a strong final 25m to secure the Bronze medal with another PB time, which also saw him bag yet another Irish Short Course qualification.

Speaking after the event, new Lakelander’s Head Coach Ben Wiffen was very impressed by his new team and praised the Lakelanders.

He said: “With an Ulster Junior title, numerous finals qualifications, PBs and 10 Irish SC qualification times, this was a strong performance, and I’m really looking forward to working with this squad as the season progresses.”