On Saturday 4 February, 24 swimmers from Banbridge Academy represented the school at the Ulster Schools’ Cup Championship.  It was a long day for the swimmers, parents and volunteers with some people taking part in both the morning and evening sessions.

The 24 swimmers represent 3 different local swimming clubs; Banbridge, Lurgan and Lisburn.  It was great to see them come together and show excellent team spirit.  They all swam amazingly well, cheered each other on in the individual swims and got behind the relay teams.

Swimming for Banbridge Academy were:

Unfortunately there was a bit of illness around and Ben Fleming was unable to compete, this would have been his first time competing in this gala – hopefully he will be able to compete next year.

Overall, from the Banbridge Academy swimmers there were:

Personal Bests – 24

Finalists – 11

The standard of swimming was excellent, with tight races and some swimmers just missing out on finals by the slimmest of margins.

Those making finals were:

The 200 Individual Medley and Relays didn’t have finals and were what we call “Heat declared winner” so there was only one chance for these swimmers to get medals.

Out of these finalists and the ‘heat declared winner’ events, Banbridge Academy took away 9 medals.

Individual medals went to:

The relays were very exciting, and this was probably the most successful year for relays for the school:

• 1st in Girls 12-14 200 Medley Relay Team was Sophie Black, Samantha Burns-Atkin, Tara Kennedy, Rose Turley.

• 1st in Girls 12-14 200 Free Relay Team was Samantha Burns-Atkin, Cara Magee, Sophie Black, Tara Kennedy

• 2nd in Boys 15-16 200 Medley Relay Team was Zachary Black, Ross McCombe, Henry Niblock, Adam Ewart

• 1st in Girls 17-19 200 Medley Relay Team was Aimee Dawson, Ciara Daly, Alana Burns-Atkin, Anna McKernan

• 2nd in Girls 17-19 200 Medley Relay Team was Aimee Dawson, Edie McCusker, Alana Burns-Atkin, Anna McKernan

Interpro Team

Qualification for the Ulster Interpro Team requires being placed in the top two of the event for the specific age group. This is a significant achievement and means that anyone selected will be representing the school at Regional level against other Irish provincial teams later this season. Those that will be selected for the team are Zachary Black, Alana Burns-Atkin, and Tara Kennedy.

Overall Awards

Finally, Cups are awarded to schools in each age group for the highest scoring teams based on individual events in the heats, so every swimmer has to contribute to the points.  The day ended with two Ulster Schools’ Titles – the 12-14 Girls and 18-19 Girls were crowned Ulster Champions for the first time in the School’s history.

The Girls’ 12-14 age group started the day off in great style bringing home the Bethany Firth Cup, named after the Commonwealth and Paralympic medal winning swimmer. The girls in this age group all swam well and all contributed. A big well done to: Sophie Black, Samantha Burns-Atkin, Tara Kennedy, Rebecca Lane, Cara Magee, Nancy McCusker, Maddy Sole and Rose Turley.

The Senior Girls’ 17-19 age group, were not to be outdone by their younger teammates and they brought home the Nocher Senior Schools’ Cup.  A fantastic achievement from the girls representing this group, Alana Burns-Atkin, Ciara Daly, Aimee Dawson, Sarah Macauley, Hannah Marshall, & Anna McKernan

A special mention has to be given to Ben O’Reilly as this will be his last year representing the school. Ben has represented the school for a number of years in swimming and he should be proud of his progress and achievements.

A final thank you goes to the people who coordinated the competition and supported these swimmers on the day to ensure they could give their best. Thank you, coaches, parents and other volunteers!