Otters and Holy Cross pupils excel in the pool

AFTER hearing how well the older swimmers had performed the previous week, Riversdale Otters’ younger swimmers selected from the Skills & Silver Squads, aged between 10-12, were entered into the Swim Ulster Future Challengers Meet which was held in Lisburn.

This pitched them in against other same aged swimmers from throughout the nine counties of Ulster.

These are the types of meets where you can get a good foundation for competitive swimming, it extracts you away from the comfort zone of your own training sphere, and enlightens you to what is required to be able to compete to a good level.

The five kids who ventured to the meet were: Lia Kennett, Ultan Kennett, Mollie McBeth, Aoife O’Hagan and Annie Duffy accompanied by and under the watchful eye of Regan Gallagher, club coach, there were also parents assisting.

Each swimmer had three races each, so 15 in total whilst representing Riversdale Otters ASC.

The kids swam and gave everything in each of their swims. As can be read from the below data all swimmers performed excellent on the day.

Annie came first in 25m Kick and second in 100m FC. There were also top 10 finishes for Lia, Ultan, Mollie and Aoife.

In relation to Personal Best (PBs) times, they have smashed not only the finished time but also on the splits mid race into the bargain – really superb swimming.

Lia’s results were: 100m FC PB plus PB at 50m mark finished 13th out of 16; 100m BRS PB plus PB at 50m mark finished 15th out of 17; 25m FC Kick finished 7th out of 11.

Ultan’s results were: 200 FC PB plus at 100m mark finished 8th out of 23; 100 BRS PB plus PB at 50m mark finished 11th out of 34; 25m FC Kick finished 5th out of 10.

Mollie’s results were: 100m FC PB plus finished 5th out of 16; 100m BRS PB plus finished 9th out of 17; 25m FC Kick PB finished 4th out of 11.

Aoife’s results were: 100m FC PB plus PB at 50m mark finished 4th out of 16; 100m BRS PB plus PB at 50m mark finished 6th out of 17; 25m FC Kick PB finished 5th out of 11.

Annie’s results were 100m FC PB plus finished 2nd out of 16; 100m BRS PB plus finished 7th out of 17; 25m FC Kick finished 1st out of 11.

Elsehwhere, Holy Cross College swimmers were recently in action at the Swim Ulster Senior Schools Cup and Championships 2022, in Bangor.

The meet was split into two sessions with the junior grouping up first, including Aaron Monaghan and Éimhear Duddy.

Both swimmers have been training very hard this season and there was no resting for this meet, always striving to do their best and be the best they can be.

Aaron competed in 100m FC where he achieved a Primary PB reducing his time by nearly three seconds and a Secondary PB for his split at the 50m mark. He also swam in the 200m IM (combination of all four swimming strokes) and claimed another massive primary PB by a massive 12.74 seconds.

Éimhear competed in both the 100m FC and 100m BRS. She has set high standards for what she wants to achieve this season in swimming and she finished her events in fantastic fashion.

In the 100m FC she achieved a Primary PB reducing her time by 5.14 seconds, which leaves Éimhear just needing to take another one second to obtain a Qualifying Time for the Irish Division 2s.

In the 100m BRS she produced a Primary PB reducing her time by nearly four seconds and a Secondary PB for her split at the 50m mark. The 100m time leaves Éimhear agonisingly just outside the Irish Division 2s by the narrowest of margins- 0.44 seconds.

The afternoon session was covering the Intermediate and Senior age grouping, representation was by Aaron Dooher, Eva Duffy and Shea Monaghan.

With the Junior swimmers performing so well in the morning session, the pressure was increasing on the three older swimmers to match these high standards.

Aaron D, who had been away from competitive swim training for three months, competed in 100m FC where he achieved a Primary PB reducing his time by 3.74 seconds and a Secondary PB for his split at the 50m mark.

He also swam in the 100m BRS and claimed another massive primary PB by a massive 9.39 seconds, and a secondary PB for his split at the 50m mark.

Eva, has started to shine since her great swims back in October and she has unleashed more drive and determination in training. She competed in 100m FC where she achieved a Primary PB reducing her time by 3.95 seconds and a Secondary PB for her split at the 50m mark. She also swam in the 100m BRS and claimed another massive primary PB by a massive 9.95 seconds, and a Secondary PB for her split at the 50m mark.

Shea, again the driving force within the local swimming fraternity, competed in 100m BRS achieved a Primary PB reducing his time by 2.55 seconds and a Secondary PB for his split at the 50m mark. He also completed the energy sapping 100m Fly, where he gained another Primary PB and a Secondary PB for his split at the 50m mark.

Shea reached the final of 100m Fly and came in 9th reducing his overall PB time by 7.55 seconds.

These swims are highlighting the Shea’s overall ability to attack most events, with great success. His attitude and determination are always carried from his training to the competition pool for each meet.