The Annual Ulster Schools Swimming Association Secondary Schools’ Championships took place on Saturday. Five Enniskillen Royal Grammar School students competed in the event which was divided into Junior, Intermediate and Senior sections and returned home with some great personal best times as well as four Ulster Championship Titles.
Molly Johnston and Ellie McCartney participated in the Junior section (ages 12-14) hoping to be considered for the Tenerife training camp over Halloween. Molly, age 13, swam in the 100m Freestyle where she matched her previous best time and she smashed her PB by 6 seconds in the 100m Breaststroke with a time of 1:37. If Molly can repeat this at a Swim Ireland Licensed Meet she will qualify for the Irish Division 2 Championships in Limerick at the end of the season. Ellie, also 13, qualified as first seed for the final of the 100m Breaststroke where she led from the start to win the Ulster Schools title. This was followed up with a flawless swim in the 100m Individual Medley to post her best time of the year, 1:11.02, to win a second title and secure her place in the Tenerife training camp.
In the Intermediate section (ages 15-16) Josh Man, Lewis McCartney and Kealan McShea, all 15, were racing against swimmers up to one year older and all performed fantastically. Josh Man swam well in both the 100m Breaststroke and the 100m Freestyle, finishing 16th overall in the former event. Lewis recorded personal best times in both the 100m Butterfly, 1:05.47 and the 200m Individual Medley, 2:21.87. The IM time saw Lewis win a Bronze Medal while he missed out on another Bronze by 2 hundredths of a second in the Butterfly. Kealan McShea also smashed his best ever times in his events; 1:04.91 in 100m Backstroke saw Kealan win Gold and the Ulster Schools title, while 2:20.58 in the 200m IM provided a second title. The results for Lewis and Kealan should see them selected for the Ulster Schools London trip later in the year. Another great result for the Enniskillen Royal Grammar swimmers at the last gala of the season.
