Coleraine Junior Swim Team remain in Division 1 for 2016/17 season

The culmination of months of hard training and galas competing for places in your Division comes to a head at the end of season galas.

On Friday, the 3rd of June, over 1,500 young swimmers from 25 clubs across Ulster hit the water to compete in the Forest Feast AquaSprint Junior Swimming League Finals.

This AquaSprint competition is for children aged between 6 and 12 years and is a fantastic and fun vehicle to introduce young children to competitive swimming.

Coleraine have now been in the top division for the competition for the past two years and they were determined to remain there.

Coleraine were competing for fourth, fifth or sixth place overall in Ulster.

They travelled to the neutral pool in Ballymena for the competition, which would see them take on Larne and Lisburn.

Coleraine got off to a great start on the day, and after the medley relays they were comfortably sitting in second place behind Lisburn thanks to some great swims.

There were some great displays of individual effort too with the following swimmers winning at least one event, Shona McElhinney, Finn Ilsley, Joshua Hawe, Martin Fiala and Oliver Knox with some fantastic performances.

Special mention must go to Martin Fiala who won all four of his individual events, which was a superb effort.

With only the freestyle relays to go the Coleraine team were still sitting very comfortably in second place, and this was where they remained at the end of the gala to complete a great day’s competition for the local swimmers.

This meant the team came fifth overall out of the 25 teams in Ulster, which is a great achievement for the club.

It was nother great result to finish the season on a very high note.

The result means both senior and Junior teams remain in the Division 1 categories within Ulster swimming for next season.

The swimmers enjoyed the bus ride back to Coleraine from Ballymena with their Silver medals and then the obligatory stop off for chips and burgers as a special treat for their efforts!

The Aquasprint team would like to thank all the coaches and parent volunteers who work throughout the swimming season to ensure the clubs continues to run as successfully as it does thanks to all their hard work and dedication.

Now for a few month’s rest and recuperation is in order for the swimmers and coaches alike before the action and the new season starts again in September 2016.

If you fancy being part of a winning team why not look out for Coleraine Swimming Club and give it a go.

Application forms will be coming available on the club’s website www.swimcoleraine.com in June/July ahead of the new 2016/17 season, which will get underway in September.

The club welcomes new members of all ages to come along and join.