Bann's strong swim proves too good for Cookstown

The locals finished up 662-482 winners away from home, having won all 16 relay events, eight medley relays and eight freestyle relays.

In PTL galas the relays are all girls and all boys. Bann won every one of those too, and often their second teams beat the opposition.

Banbridge ASC has a great team spirit and many swimmers don’t go to individual galas any more but still turn out for their team.

In the A girls team, Sarah McEvoy, Jodie McMullan, Ellie Bingham and Katie McFarlane won their medley relay event.

Jodie won all five individual events as well which was a great achievement. These events were backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle and individual medley. Katie McFarlane came second in backstroke and was fourth in breaststroke, fly and freestyle. Dia McCrory was second in breaststroke.

In the Group A boys, Ronan Quinn pulled off four first place finishes in breaststroke, fly, freestyle and IM as well as fourth in backstroke. Issac was close behind with first in backstroke, second in fly, freestyle and IM and fourth in breaststroke.

Carter Bell was second in backstroke and fourth in IM. Jack Lennon was second in breaststroke and Jack Dougan was fourth in fly and freestyle. Carter, Jack Lennon, Ronan and Issac also won both relays.

In the Group B girls, again there was a strong contingent of swimmers including Bann star, Julia Knox. She was joined by two other Ulster Squad swimmers, Ruby McNiff and Rachel Blemmings.

To complement the team, there was also Kathryn McGrath, Aidín Quinn and Jessica McMullen. Together they won the relays and all individual events. Julia achieved five first places while Ruby was second in backstroke and fly and third in freestyle and IM.

Rachel was second in breaststroke and IM. Aidín swam a surprising second place in freestyle and Kathryn was third in fly while Jessica was third in backstroke.

The Group B boys had lots of potential with various swimmers taking the lead. These included Dawson Patterson, Peter Bigley, Niall McGeown, Finlay Wright and Adam Wilson. Dawson was in good shape with second place in backstroke and freestyle, third in IM and fourth in breaststroke.

Adam had a great first in IM and second in breaststroke and fly. Finlay was third in backstroke as Peter Bigley was third in freestyle and fourth in backstroke, fly, IM and sixth in breaststroke. Again, they won all their relays.

The Group C girls were led by Maeve Cleland who achieved first positions in backstroke, fly and IM. She was also second in breaststroke and freestyle. Ellie Wright was third in freestyle, fourth in breaststroke and fly and fifth in backstroke. Caitlin Kearney swam well with a fourth in backstroke and IM and fifth in breaststroke and freestyle. Erin Smith was fifth in IM and 6th in fly and the girls won their relays.

The Group C boys gave many top performances. Christopher Morrow came first place in backstroke, fly, freestyle and IM as well as second in breaststroke.

Harry Farson was second in fly, free and IM as well as third in backstroke. Harry Dougan was third in breaststroke and fifth in fly. Patrick Doyle was third in free and fourth in breaststroke. The boys won all their relays.

Group D girls were led by Kate Allenby who easily won every stroke. Poppy Robinson was second in backstroke, fly and free, fourth in breaststroke and fifth in IM.

Jodi Doyle was third in free and fifth in breaststroke. Ellie Robinson was third in fly. Emma McElderry was third in backstroke and IM. Again, all the relays were won.

Finally, the Group D boys pulled off some excellent performances. Lee Galloway was as fast as ever, winning every event. Ross Johnston was second in back and IM, as well as fourth in fly and free and fifth in breaststroke.

Eunan Quinn was fourth in breaststroke and sixth in fly. Caolán Quinn was fifth in free. Aaron Brown was fifth in backstroke and IM. These lads also easily won their relays.

It was a very successful gala for Bann, who send a well done to the swimmers, coaches and parents for all the efforts.