Resounding victory for Lurgan

The Lurgan team got off to a good start in the opening medley relays, with six wins out of eight, all of the boys winning their relay team races. This meant that going into the individual events, Lurgan were leading by 16 points.

In the backcrawl events, “A”bgirls (age 10 and under) and “C” girls (age 13 and 14) achieved maximum points. Una McConville and Emma Mulholland touched first and second for the “A” girls. Caitlin Wylie and Katie Hayes were first and second for the “C” girls, Caitlin achieving 35.81, the fastest girls backcrawl time of the evening.

Personal best backcrawl times were achieved by Nathan Wiffen, Rory Burns, Aimee Keenan and Conor McConville. Excellent swimming wins by James Owen, Chad Li and Jordan Leckey further brightenend the Lurgan team’s prospects.

In the breaststroke events, all of Lurgan’s boys achieved maximum points, as did the “A” girls and “C” girls . Personal best times were recorded for Megan Gellately, Katie Hayes, Harry Owen and Aodhan McConville.

Orla McKavanagh won the “D” girls breaststroke, in a very competitive group of girls, with Sarah Shine also adding to the points with an excellent breaststroke performance. Lurgan were now 58 points ahead of Lecale.

Lurgan went into the butterfly event with an infusion of energy. The “A” girls Una and Emma securing top points. “A” boys Daniel Wiffen and Rhys Dale swam brilliantly to touch first and second. “C” girls and boys showed genuine talent with Annie Beattie recording the fastest girls butterfly of the evening and Niall McDowell achieving a butterfly personal best time.

The freestyle races were excitingly close and Lurgan’s points lead was still well intact following superb swims and maximum points for “B” boys, “C” girls and “D” boys.

“A” girl Angela Loughran showed great determination, recording a freestyle personal best time. “B” girls Cait Towe delighted the Lurgan supporters with a freestyle win, with further wins for Una, James, Caitlin, Chad and Jordan.

The individual medley races produced great performances, Eimear McConville, Aimee Keenan, Thomas McKibbon, Scott Girvan and Max Hamilton setting personal best times in 100m individual medley. “C” girls along with “A” , “B” and “C” boys topped the scores in this event increasing the lead further going into the final freestyle relays.

The “B” girls relay team of Cait Towe, Aimee Keenan, Kate Mulholland and Maeve McKavanagh were challenged in the freestyle relay and were successful, just touching ahead of their opponents.

“C” girls Caitlin, Annie and Katie were ably assisted by Rachel McCaughley to win their relay race. “D” girls narrowly lost their relay race despite excellent performances from OrlaMcKavanagh, Sarah Shine, Emma Irvine and Brenda Loughran.

All of the boys produced tremendous team swims, the youngest boys just missing top points in a very exciting race. The older boys team, Jordan Leckey, Ben Wiffen, Michael Fearon and Rory Thompson delighted the crowd with their win, bringing the gala to a close and the score Lurgan 639 Lecale 505.

It was a resounding success in this gala for Lurgan, a result of very hard work and commitment to training by the swimmers and dedication by the coaches.

The next PTL date in the diary is an away gala in February to Mid-Ulster.

Meanwhile the youngest Lurgan swimmers are preparing for their first gala in the Forest Feasts Aquasprint League, away against Portadown Swimming Club on January 7.