Ellie McCartney from the Enniskillen Model Primary School with her gold and bronze medals
The 2014 Ulster Schools Minor Gala took place on Saturday 11th October at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena.
A great number of swimmers from schools throughout Fermanagh travelled to compete for the Ulster titles.
Ellie McCartney from the Enniskillen Model Primary School finished the weekend as Ulster Champion in the Minor Two 50m breaststroke event and third overall in the 50m freestyle.
Patrick and Sophia Williams performed well in their first schools gala. In Minor One, Louie Burns (Enniskillen Integrated Primary School) finished 5th in final of Freestyle and 7th in Breaststroke. Matthew Dolan of St Patrick’s, Mullanaskea made the Top 10 in both Breaststroke and Butterfly in Minor 2.
Oisin McCaffrey-McManus and Dara McGandy from St Michael’s College made the finals in back and breaststroke respectively both finishing 4th. Owen Smyth had new PBs in both his strokes. These swimmers were joined by Peter Dolan in the St Michael’s relay team and finished 4th and 5th in Medley and Freestyle respectively.
Not to be outdone The Mount Lourdes girls, Laura McCaffrey and Caitlin Love, also made the finals of the backstroke and butterfly.
Laura finishing 6th in the back and Caitlin 2nd in the Butterfly getting a Silver Medal for second place.
The Mount Lourdes Medley relay team of Sorcha Lavelle, Laura McCaffrey, Caitlin Love and Caoimhe Leonard put in a blistering performance to secure a well earned silver against strong opposition. Rhiannon Dolan set two new PBs for herself.
Portora Royal School entered the event for the first time in many years; Lewis McCartney reached the Top 10 in the 50m breaststroke and Kealan McShea breaking his PB for 50m backstroke. Devenish College’s Rachel Evans set Personal Bests in both her strokes.
Representing St Mary’s Mullymesker in Age Group 3 was Caragh Leonard (10). Caragh who is a P7 pupil did her school proud competing against a very large entry.
Caragh who swims with Sliabh Beagh Swimming Club in Monaghan swam in the 50m Breaststroke and the fiercely competitive 50m Freestyle. Firstly she scooped the bronze in the 50m breaststroke and then went on to claim gold in the 50m freestyle with a fantastic new personal best time of 32.10, to become Ulster Minor Schools Group 3 Champion.