Larne suffer narrow defeat to Coleraine in first Aqausprint meet

The team of 38 swimmers were on form right from the start with Larne splitting the four medley relays, winning two of them.

Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle individual events followed with many ending in tight finishes, giving the touch judges some close calls.

Special mention goes to Luke Caldwell who was competing in his first Aquasprint and won all four of his events in the ‘A’ group boys - all in personal best times.

A total of 50 PBs were achieved from 96 individual performances, which is a great return for the first meet of the season.

The score after the relays was 175 to 185, meaning Larne had to win all four of the remaining freestyle relays. In the end they won three of the four, to lose the meet by just two points. Final score: Coleraine 201 v Larne 199.

Team captains for the Junior Aquasprints 2013/14 season are Adam Mahood and Sophia Del Castillo and the next Aquasprint is in Banbridge at the end of November.

This weekend, 48 Larne swimmers will compete in the War Memorial Gala in Lisburn. This is a highly contested competition culminating in the six-man relay team for the War Memorial Shield.

The Gala is staged on the Saturday closest the November 11 each year. It includes a ceremony to commemorate all swimmers who fell in the World Wars.