Great effort from St Mary's Swimmers

Saturday 21^st October, saw the return of the Swim Ulster Schools Championship, and St Mary’s Primary School sent a small group of determined swimmers. The team this year consisted of Lauren Burns-Atkin (P6), Mychaela McEvoy (P6), Sophie Quinn (P6), Cathal Hill (P5), Matthew McKevitt (P5) and Samantha Burns-Atkin (P5). This would be the first major gala that Matthew or Sophie had entered so this was a whole new experience for them.

Warm up for the mornings events was at 8am so it was an early start for everyone to get to Bangor in time. The set up of the competition was that there would be 50 metre races in all strokes, Freestyle, Back stroke, Breast stroke and Butterfly. Each child was only allowed to enter a maximum of two events.

50m Freestyle

Girls - Samantha and Sophie. Both girls gave a good account of themselves, and didn’t let the occasion get to them. Sophie had a great swim getting a very respectable time and a great PB, knocking over 13 seconds off her entry time. Samantha swam a fantastic heat and finished under the qualifying time for Dublin. She also made the final for that event which would take place later that morning.

Boys - Cathal and Matthew. Matthew was really looking forward to his events and had a strong swim, he knocked 1.5 seconds off his entry time. Cathal had a great swim, knocking 5 seconds off his PB, qualifying for Dublin and narrowly missing out of the final.

50m Breaststroke

Girls - Samantha, Lauren and Mychaela. Samantha had another strong swim knocking over 15 seconds off her PB, she also made the 9 year old final. Mychaela was in a fast heat but didn’t let that phase her, she also knocked seconds off her PB, qualified for Dublin and made the 10 year old final. Lauren came into this event ranked 4^th fastest, Lauren had a fantastic swim, knocking 5 seconds off her PB, qualifying for Dublin and going into the final ranked 1^st fastest.

Boys -Cathal had a strong swim, touching the wall second for his heat.

50m Backstroke

Sophie, Mychaela, and Matthew. All had strong swims, Matthew finished 2^nd in his heat, Sophie knocked 5 seconds off her PB and finished 2^nd in her heat. This is one of Mychaela’s favourite events and it showed, she finished ranked 6^th overall and knocked over 4 seconds off her PB. Qualifying for the backstroke final.

50m Butterfly

Lauren was the only swimmer from St Mary’s in this event, she great heat finishing 2^nd, and knocked over 5 seconds off her PB. She would go into the final ranked 7^th.

Finals

Samantha maybe used all her energy in the heats as she added time in the finals, but still swam well. She finished 9^th in the 50m Freestyle 9 year old final, and 8^th in the 50m Breaststroke 9 year old final.

Mychaela also had good swims in her finals, she finished 7^th in the 50m Breaststroke final 10 year old. In the 50m Backstroke 10 year old final, she came 9^th.

Lauren finished her day in the 50m Butterfly 10 year old final, were she had another strong swim, she went faster than she did in the heats earlier but it wasn’t enough and she finished 7^th. Prior to that she swam in the 50m Breaststroke 10 year old final. Lauren had a strong race. She was just in front coming down to the last five metres, and despite a strong finish from the swimmers beside her she managed to hold on and won! A wonderful result and very well deserved. Swim Ulster Schools Championship 50m Breaststroke Champion!

Overall it was a great day for St Mary’s and the young team. It was a great debut from Matthew and Sophie, I’m sure that next year they will be more experienced and looking to improve on the fantastic results they achieved this year.

Well Done Everyone, bring on Dublin!

If this has inspired you to think of trying swimming as a sport, Banbridge Amateur Swimming Club holds regular trials. It is a friendly club with a strong family feel. If you are interested in attending one of the trials, please contact the club via email – BASC.clubsec@gmail.com