Banbridge dominate Larne to claim the win at swimming gala

Banbridge Leisure Centre hosted the second PTL gala of the season and beat Larne 633-511.

From the onset, it looked like Banbridge Amateur Swimming Club had a bigger and more impressive team and when the gala began with the Medley relays, it was clear that they were the stronger team.

Banbridge swimmers won 11 out of 16 of the relays and placed them in prime position to dominate the rest of the competition.

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Our youngest swimmers in the girls Group A, saw Jodie McMullen, Katie McFarlane, Sarah McEvoy, Ellie Bingham, Dia McCrory, Niamh McGeown, Ciara Daly and Megan Williams take to the starting blocks.

It was a fine exhibition from Sarah, Jodie, Ellie and Katie to win the Medley relay. Jodie, Katie and Sarah went on to win 1st 2nd and 3rd in individual backstroke.

In the breaststroke event, Jodie had a smashing time of 42:44 followed by Sarah and Dia in 2nd and 3rd. Jodie continued her winning streak and went on to win butterfly, frontcrawl and Individual Medley.

Ellie went on to achieve 2nd in fly and 3rd in frontcrawl. Katie also came 2nd in IM. Niamh came 3rd in fly. The girls also won their Frontcrawl relay.

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The Group A boys of age nine and 10 were made of the same metal and consisted of Ronan Quinn, Isaac Forsythe, Jack Lennon, Peter McGrath, Carter Bell and Pearse Rice. The boys won both Medley and Frontcrawl relays.

Ronan was first in fly and IM, 2nd in both backstroke and frontcrawl and 3rd in breaststroke. Isaac came 1st in backstroke and frontcrawl, 2nd in fly and 5th in breaststroke.

Jack Lennon did an excellent time in breaststroke, coming in 1st and 4th in fly and IM. Carter was 3rd in backstroke and Peter 3rd in frontcrawl. They too proved their worth in gold.

The Group B girls, was the biggest team with 12 swimmers taking part in individual and relay events.

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Julia Knox led a fine group, followed by Ruby McNiff, Kathryn McGrath, Aidin Quinn, Rachel Blemmings, Jessica McMullen and Jennifer Morrow. Subs included Rachel Allenby, Aisling,Oriana Thompson, Sorcha Boersma and Clodagh McGrady.

Julia won all five individual events and swam impressive times. Ruby was close on her heels with 3rd in backstroke and 2nd in breaststroke, frontcrawl and IM.

Rachel B was 3rd in breaststroke and 5th in frontcrawl. Aidin was 4th in IM and 5th in fly. Jessica was 5th in backstroke.The three relay teams competing, made an impressive display, compared to Larne’s one lane of swimmers. These fine swimmers also won both relays.

The Group B boys, was composed of 8 swimmers including the Bigley brothers Ryan and Peter, Dawson Patterson, Adam Wilson, Finlay Wright, Niall McGeown, Daniel Brown and Evan Calvert.

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Ryan came 1st in backstroke, breaststroke and frontcrawl. Adam came 2nd in fly and IM and 4th in breaststroke. Dawson was 3rd in backstroke and 5th in frontcrawl and IM. Peter was 4th in backstroke, fly and frontcrawl. Niall was 3rd in fly and 4th in IM. Again both relays were won by Banbridge.

The Group C girls, was one of our smallest groups. Maeve Cleland was joined by Becki Pinkerton, Ellie Wright, Caitlin Kearney, Charlotte Farson and Erin Smith.

They did a fine job as Maeve won backstroke, fly, frontcrawl and IM. She came 5th in breaststroke. Becki was 2nd in backstroke, fly and IM and 3rd in breaststroke and frontcrawl. Caitlin was 5th in frontcrawl and IM and 6th in breaststroke. Ellie achieved 5th in backstroke and Erin was 6th in fly. Larne won the Medley relay but the girls stepped it up for the Freestyle relay and came 1st!

The Group C boys, William Pinkerton, Christopher Morrow, Harry Farson and Jack Bingham, won both their relays.

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Other group swimmers joined Declan McGeown to make up a second relay. Chris won backstroke, fly and frontcrawl along with 2nd in breaststroke and IM. Will won breaststroke and IM, came 2nd in backstroke and 4th in fly. Harry came 3rd in fly and frontcrawl. Jack was 3rd in backstroke and 4th in IM. Declan was 6th in breaststroke and in frontcrawl.

The Group D girls, had only 7 swimmers in their group but they still pulled off some excellent swims.

Jenny Wilson, Poppy Robinson, Kate Allenby and Elli Robinson performed an excellent Medley relay. Jodi Doyle, Emma McElderry and Charlotte Wilson joined this team to produce some great results.

Kate was in her element, winning backstroke, breaststroke, fly and IM. She came a close 2nd in frontcrawl. Jenny was 4th in backstroke, fly and IM. Poppy was 2nd in breaststroke, 4th in frontcrawl and 5th in backstroke. Jodi was 4th in breaststroke. Elli was 5th in IM and 6th in fly and frontcraw. Jodi and Elli are the girls’ team captains.

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In the Group D boys, Lee Galloway led the way, followed by captains Alex Donnelly and Ross Johnston, brothers Caolan and Eunan Quinn and Aaron Brown. Larne had stronger relay teams and succeeded in winning both.

However, Banbridge fought hard in the individual events. Lee came 1st in backstroke and fly, 2nd in IM and 3rd in breaststroke. Ross was 3rd in frontcrawl and 4th in backstroke and IM. Eunan was 5th in fly and breaststroke and 6th in frontcrawl. Caolan was 5th in frontcrawl and 6th in breaststroke. Alex was 6th in IM. Aaron was 6th in backstroke.

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