Swimmer Ellie McCartney made waves at the Swim Ireland McCullagh International Meet at the Bangor Aurora Leisure Centre at the weekend winning medals and helping to break an Irish and Ulster record.

She was Fermanagh’s sole representative at the prestigious three-day competition that attracted more than 450 swimmers from around 80 clubs.

The 17-year-old swimmer showed her mettle, returning home with a haul of seven medals, which included a coveted senior individual gold medal at the International Meet, an Irish Senior record, and an Ulster Senior record, both of which were earned as part of the impressive Ards relay team.

Ellie’s first day saw her locked in an epic battle with fellow Irish swimmer Niamh Coyne in the 100m breaststroke, where Coyne edged out the Enniskillen-born athlete for the gold with a time of 1 minute 09.53 seconds. Nevertheless, McCartney put in a valiant effort and finished a close second in a time of 1 minute 09.73 seconds, marking the first time she had gone under 1 minute 10 seconds in the event.

Redemption

The following day saw Ellie seeking redemption as she once again took on Coyne in the 200m breaststroke, this time emerging victorious with a personal best of 2 minutes 30.94 seconds and clinching her first-ever Dave McCullagh International gold medal in the process.

The final event of the weekend, the 200m Individual Medley, showcased Ellie’s all-round talent as she battled it out with the likes of Tokyo 2020 Olympian Ellen Walshe, eventually securing a silver medal with a time of 2 minutes15.81 seconds – three seconds faster than her personal best.

Ellie also qualified for the 50m butterfly final but withdrew to concentrate on other events.

As the McCullagh serves as National Championships for relays, national titles were up for grabs from the beginning, and Ellie and her Ards teammates seized the opportunity by smashing the 4x100m Freestyle Irish Senior Record by more than two seconds to clinch gold and the National Title in a time of 3 minutes 53.26 seconds.

The Ulster Senior record and a second gold medal were secured in the 4x100m Medley Relay, while Ellie’s contribution in the butterfly leg helped Ards secure another title in the 4 x 100m Mixed Medley Relay. The Ards Swimming Club team, buoyed by Ellie’s stellar performance and a number of other terrific individual displays, emerged victorious and clinched the Top Club trophy once again at the Meet.

Ellie’s National Centre Ulster Coach, Kevin Anderson, praised her and her teammates’ remarkable efforts, having spent the previous seven days in Lanzarote with Ellie and ten of her fellow swimmers, where they covered more than 60 kilometres.

Anderson tweeted: “Great racing by the NCU swimmers at the McCullagh International this weekend. Either best times or right on top of best times under some good training load.”