The first Aquasprint of the year for the Enniskillen Lakelanders took place on Saturday, February 11, away to Lecale at the Down Leisure Centre, Downpatrick, with 47 of their younger swimmers (born between 2015 and 2010) heading off on the bus, full of excitement.

The Aquasprint league, sponsored by Forest Feast, is a starting point for the younger swimmers to compete in all strokes in individual and relays over 25m.

Aquasprints are a great opportunity for children to build on what they have been learning in the pool with coaches Claire and Ben and they then add speed to this and a competitive edge.

The Gala began with the Medley telays (Back, Breast, Butterfly and Freestyle). First up was Group A, who finished in second place.

Having moved up a division last season, the Lakelanders knew very little about the Lecale team and pinned their hopes on the older, more experienced swimmers having even better luck, which they did with Group B of Kiera Salcedo, Emmett Coyle, Sophie Hanna and Daire Burke hitting first spot.

Next up was Group C – Martha McCreesh, Emma Speer, Darragh Collins and Mirko Man again hitting top spot. And finally Group D, of Luke Lannon, Erin Salcedo, Ava Neal and Enda Burke, who ran out winners too.

Next came the first individual event; the Backstroke, with lots of first and second positions spots. These included first places for Clara Leonard, Jakub Mikievicz Lumayad, Sophie Hanna, Martha McCreesh and Luke Lannon.

There were second places for Crea Mullen, Daire Burke, Myleene Leonard, Ava Neal and Enda Burke.

There were also great swims by Mavis Man, Maeve Rolston McAuliffe and Holly McCabe.

Breaststroke next – a stroke the Lakelanders usually dominate in, and they didn’t disappoint, with everyone swimming great and Lakelanders getting six out of eight of the first positions.

There were first places for Clara Leonard, James McSorley, Kiera Salcedo, Emma Speer, Ava Neal and Luke Lannon.

There was also point scoring by Maia Rolston McAuliffe, Michael Carron, Sophie Hanna, Charles Armstrong, Holly Barkley, Anton Neal, Mirko Man, Ryan Mongan, Katie McGowan and Erin Salcedo. After this round, the Lakelanders had stretched their lead further and the score was 111 to 89.

The Butterfly stroke is one of the most difficult swimming strokes, but since Head Coach Ben Wiffen has joined the Lakelanders they have been making steady progress at their Butterfly, and this was shown on the day with five first spots and four second spots, ensuring the Lakelanders held their lead heading into the Freestyle round.

The last individual event was the Freestyle, where the Lakelanders swam really well again. There were first spots for Clara Leonard, Sophie Hanna, Martha McCreesh and Luke Lannon. Again, there were also great points scored by Molly Kate Brewster, Michael Carron, Crea Mullen, Sam Curran, Myleene Leonard , Russell Mikievicz Lumayad, Enda Burke and Tori Reid.

The final event of the day had everyone cheering on the Lakelanders and again they won three out of the four Freestyle relays. All they had to do now was await the final results.

The MVS (Most Valuable Swimmers) award for the boys went to Luke Lannon, who secured four firsts in his individual events, and was also on two winning relay teams.

Martha McCreesh and Sophie Hanna were the joint top girls with three first places and one second place along with helping their team to two relays wins.

There were lots of great swims on the night for new and less experienced swimmers in other relays; these children are progressing so well, most of them only in the club a few months.

These included Clara Curran, Maria Clifford, Maddie Maguire, Tina Mbeulina, Keelan Rice, Ella Neal, Anna May Hill, Rebecca Curran, Ava Nugent, Luna Murphy, Josh Cassidy, Harvey Simmons, Olivia McCaffrey and Caelan Moore. They all did themselves proud, and by the smiles on their faces, they really enjoyed the event.

Following speeches from the new team captains of Ava Neal and Ryan Mongan, the final result was called out – Enniskillen Lakelanders 217, and Lecale 183; there was rapturous applause and big smiles all around the Enniskillen team.

The young Lakelanders will now set their sights on defeating the Olympia Aquasprint team who will travel to Enniskillen in April.

However, before that, the club have their Junior Spring Gala on March 5 when they will host many other clubs travelling from across the province.

 

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