Lecale swimmers give their best in victory at Ballymoney

Lecale swimmers give their best in victory at Ballymoney

LECALE ASC grabbed a narrow 206-194 win at the Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre in Ballymoney in the last AquaSprint League gala of the current season.

In a very exciting gala, which saw the teams neck and neck after the initial relays, they took it in turns to take the lead throughout.

Ballymoney took a two point lead after the backstroke, the teams were level again after the breaststroke and at the halfway point 100 to 100.

Ballymoney drew ahead 150 to 148 after the butterfly races. Lecale swam level on points after the freestyle races 180 to 180.

The final relays were the decider, with Ballymoney narrowly missing out as Lecale pulled out all the stops with a tremendous effort and won three out of the four relays.

This well-deserved win means that Lecale ASC now progress to the A final in their division.

The team from Lecale is moving into new territory for both this young group of swimmers and the club. Lecale have never before reached this level of competitive performance in the junior swimming league.

The final will be at a neutral venue (still to be confirmed) in early June.

Adam Colgan (U-9) had won in all events so far this season and continued to keep his 100 per cent record in the individual swims, but his medley relay team were edged out by the narrowest of margins.

Cara O’Neill-Campbell (U-9) heroically swam and gained valuable points, though recovering from illness. In the U-10 group, Amy Browning was first in two races and Ruby Tindal also won two races.

The U-11 group saw Daniel Mulholland win three races and Kate McCauley again won all four of her individual events. The closely fought U-12 category saw Philippa Cleave achieve three PBs and Philip George achieved a PB in the freestyle race.

Great performances were produced by other members of the team and the following are some of the swimmers who produced PBs on the day. Overall there were 25 PBs gained during the gala which goes to show the drive and commitment by the young swimmers.

U-9’s Catriona Clark (2), Adam Colgan, John Mahoney; U-10’s Niamh Mulholland, Ruby Tindal (2), Amy Browning, Adam Mahon, Ciaran Lundy; U-11s Rebecca Colgan (2), Kate McCauley (2), Ciara Corrigan, Daniel Mulholland (3), Jonathan Gray (2); U-12s Anna Maria Lundy(2), Philippa Cleave (3), Orla Mulholland, Ruari Murtagh, Philip George, and Aidan Small.