Record-breaking Bann make it 16 wins on the trot

It meant it’s now an unprecedented 16 wins out of 16 team relays, a feat which may never be repeated.

Bann team coach, Geraldine Hill had a strong team selected, including newcomers Jessica and Jodie McMullen, who are true assets to the club.

GROUP A

The Group A girls, born in 2005 or later, consisted of Katie McFarlane, Jodie McMullen, Sarah McEvoy, Niamh McGeown, Ellie Bingham, Dia McCrory, Ciara Daly and Megan Williams.

They led the way, bringing home the first medley relay of the night. Jodie McMullen got off to a wonderful start with first places in backstroke, breaststroke, frontcrawl and IM. She also placed a close second in butterfly.

Ellie Bingham was in top form with a first in butterfly, second in IM and third in frontcrawl. Katie McFarlane, who is only eight, came close with three thirds in backstroke, butterfly and IM.

Sarah McEvoy, another strong contender, came second in backstroke and frontcrawl and fourth in breaststroke. Dia McCrory was a very fast second in breaststroke. That meant five out of five events were won by Bann swimmers, first, second and third.

The Group A boys, aged 10 and nine were led by Ronan Quinn and his strong team-mates were Issac Forsythe, Jack Lennon, Peter McGrath, Carter Bell, Jack Dougan, Bailey Breen and Pearse Rice.

Ronan started off third in backstroke and breaststroke, gained momentum in his fly, coming second and finally smashed it in frontcrawl and IM winning both.

Issac was also in great shape, coming second in backstroke, third in fly, frontcrawl and IM and fifth in breaststroke. Jack Dougan helped his team-mates with fourth in fly and fifth in IM. Peter was fourth in backstroke with Jack Lennon fourth in breaststroke and Carter fifth in frontcrawl.

GROUP B

The Group B girls were short Julia Knox, Kathryn McGrath and Rachel Blemmings but the remaining troupers still pulled off top three in every race.

Ruby McNiff, Aidin Quinn and newcomer Jessica McMullen were on a winning streak. Jenny Morrow, Sorcha Boersma, Oriana Thompson and Aisling Fusciardi were well ready to join the winning relay teams. Banbridge were winning first and second in the relays.

Ruby was first in the first four individual events and second in IM when Julia joined the ranks, fresh to the competition.

Jessica pulled off second in backstroke, breaststroke and fly, then Aidin secured second in frontcrawl. She was also third in backstroke and fly as Jenny was a close third in breaststroke.

The Group B boys were composed of brothers Ryan and Peter Bigley, Dawson Patterson, Adam Wilson, Niall McGeown, Finlay Wright and Daniel Brown. Ryan was in tremendous shape, winning first in backstroke, breaststroke, frontcrawl and IM. Adam came in a strong second in fly and third in breaststroke and IM.

Peter was second in frontcrawl, third in fly and fourth in backstroke. Dawson was third in backstroke and fourth in IM. Niall was fourth in breaststroke and sixth in fly. Finlay came sixth in frontcrawl.

GROUP C

In the Group C girls squad, Becki Pinkerton was missing but Maeve Cleland, Ellie Wright, Caitlin Kearney, and Erin Smith were eager to smash the competition and they did just that

Maeve won all five events and was one of only two swimmers in the Banbridge team to pull that off. Poppy Robinson in Group D also achieved this.

Ellie had a tremendous night, coming second in fly, free and IM. She also was third in back and breaststroke. Caitlin swam well and achieved third in free and IM, fourth in back and fifth in breaststroke.

Erin had a good fly swim, coming in third. Charlotte Farson joined them in the relays and again they won them all.

The Group C boys were missing William Pinkerton but his team-mates, Christopher Morrow, Harry Farson, Jack Bingham, Harry Dougan, Patrick Doyle and Declan McGeown had it all under control. Christopher won the backstroke, freestyle and IM as well as coming second in breaststroke and butterfly. Harry Farson came thord in breast, fly, free and IM and also swam fourth in backstroke.

Jack Bingham, whose swimming has really taken off, was second in backstroke. Declan was fourth in fly and IM. Harry Dougan was fourth in freestyle and Patrick Doyle swam fourth in breaststroke. Again this group won all their relays, helped by Eunan Quinn and Aaron Brown.

GROUP D

The Group D girls were down to five swimmers but they swam superbly and won all of their relays and every individual event. Poppy and Elli Robinson led the way and Jodie Doyle, Campbell and Erin Burke performed well.

Poppy was in excellent form and won every event. Her sister, Elli, was also buzzing as she achieved second place in back, fly and IM and third in freestyle.

Jodie did well bringing in second in breaststroke, third in fly and fourth in freestyle. Charlotte Campbell was sixth in breaststroke and Erin Burke was fifth in IM.

The Group D boys had seven swimmers, just missing Patrick McNiff. Lee Galloway led the young men’s team and was joined by Kyle Mawhinney, Caolan Quinn, Eunan Quinn, Ross Johnston, Alex Donnelly and Aaron Brown. Lee won four out of five events and came second in breaststroke. Ross was second in freestyle and IM and third in backstroke.

Caolan was fourth in freestyle and fifth in breaststroke. Alex was fourth in IM and fifth in fly. Eunan was third in breaststroke. Aaron was fourth in backstroke. To finish the night triumphantly and seal a super success, they again won all their relays.