Ballymena swimmers keep up gala record

Poppy Millar was one of the swimmers who helped Ballymena Aquasprints to victory over Olympia recently.

Some 45 swimmers along with their parents and PTL helpers traveled in snowy conditions to the pool at Andersonstown to take on new opponents.

The nerves heightened, after the Medley Relays finished with a draw. A Group (2006) was outstanding in performance, with A Girls Hannah Leetch and Tilly Stewart securing 1st and 2nd across their individual events with ease! Gemma Clyde, Poppy Millar, Zara Kernohan and Meabh Connolly are improving by the week and showed off their technique with superb performances!

Michael Leetch came up against a tough opponent who pipped him to the wall across Back, Breast and Fly but swam with such determination and smashed home to win 1st place in Freestyle. He racked up a total 13 points for A Group Boys. Alex Pittam, Harry Lamont, Thomas Evans and Ryan Addison all worked hard throughout the evening producing some impressive PBs.

In the 2005 age group, Olympia put up the strongest competition.

Aimee Russell produced a 1st place finish in Backstroke and Jana Gree and Daniel Rodgers also hit the wall first in Breaststroke. B Group again showed their determination and should be proud of the 7 PBs they beat across the events.

C Group swimmers also were up against tough opposition – however they still managed to secure first place in Backstroke and Breaststroke, and Girls Butterfly.

New to the Squad, Amy Hill produced some fantastic swims and proved her place on the Core Squad effortlessly. As always, Oonagh Lamont and Niamh Connolly were on form and stacked up points for the squad – alongside Eabha Steele and Maddy Stewart.

Joseph O’Rawe again put in a solid performance and was supported by Adam McLaughlin, Matthew Evans, Anier Campbell and Hugo Eddis. Again, the boys produced superb PBs and worked well together across the 6 events.

The seniors of the squad on the night (2003) produced superb swims across the age group. The girls were missing Keri Hoey, who is dependable across the events, but they stepped up to the mark. Sophie Leetch smashed an impressive 4/4 PBs with Kerry Park following suit with 3/3. Again Patrick Ferris totted up maximum points for D Group boys and had the dependable support of Jack Guild and Ronan McKillop. Ronan showed off his progress with a fantastic performance in Breaststroke and 3/3 PBs. Euan Watt, Luca Young and Robby Smith all displayed their talents in their events.

Going into the Freestyle Relays the squad could not be caught, however, they did not let this affect their performance and still delivered top class swims.

With 3 wins out of 3 galas, Ballymena are sitting top of their division with 3 galas to go before the finals.