Lisburn in three trophy haul

Keith devoted 28 years of his life establishing Lisburn Swimming Club. He had a firm ethos; believing children could develop their swimming abilities to their highest attainable levels with enjoyment and dedication. He always taught them to be loyal among one another and that they should strive to do the best for their Club. He loved to see the children enjoying themselves and this Gala, with Keith's unusual relay format, was his way of trying to include as many swimmers as possible where teamwork was foremost and fun was the order of the day.

It was a privilege as always to have some of Keith's family present who continue to support the annual event. Club President Jack Beattie was also there as always supporting the Club and the event. This year saw two very special guests in Dame Mary Peters and Doctor Janet Gray MBE, World Disabled Water Ski Champion.

The Gala was sponsored by the First Trust Bank and Greens Food Fare, Lisburn kindly donated a hamper of delightful goodies for one lucky winner. A donation from the sale of the programmes went to the Ulster Cancer Foundation.

Three categories and three awards were up for grabs; Sports Advisory Council Perpetual Trophy for the Age Group events, the Ironside Trophy for the Open Events and the Buchanan-Kelly Cup for the overall Club winner.

Seven Clubs and their swimmers arrived at the LaganValley Leisureplex on mass for an evening of fun each wanting victory; Ards, City of Belfast, Newry & Mourne, Banbridge, Leander, Templemore and Lisburn City with their band of supporters who filled the viewing gallery.

The evening saw 26 Relay events. The first relay ; the Girls A Group 4 x 50M Medley, the Lisburn team of Rachel Bethel, Amy Seawright, Rebecca Sands and Namona Teggart took 1st place and the home side was off to a good start. Some great swimming then from the Belfast team of Templemore in the second event, they broke the Meet Record which had been held since 2005 by racing home 1st in a time of 2.33.71. Templemore went on to claim 3 other meet records over the course of the evening. Lisburn continued to feature in the top three over the next few relays, Boys A 4x50M Medley 3rd Brodie Seymour, Andrew Edgar, Conor Monteith, Keelan Logan. B Boys 4x50M Medley, Callum Taylor, Ben Thompson, Alex Walker and Jonny Stewart 3rd.

In the C Group Girls Medley Hannah Taylor, Lucy Scott, Rachel Smyth and Jemma Bingham collected another 1st in a time of 2.12.84. The C Group boys were not to be outdone and collected Gold in their event narrowly missing out on the Meet record by .75 hundredths of a second. The support from the gallery was superb and the atmosphere was electric. Event 9, the Girls A Group 4 x 50M Freestyle saw Lisburn's youngest swimmers come in 1st with a time of 2.16.00 breaking the meet record of 2.16.96 which had been held by Lisburn from 2006, super racing and a double celebration as the meet record was also the Lisburn City Club record which this quartet of Rebecca Sands, Rachel Bethel, Amy Seawright and Nikhita Dowie have now claimed. Lisburn's B Group girls took Gold in both the Medley and Freestyle 4 x 50 events, a strong team of Ruth Russell, Zoe Smyth, Natasha Pollock and Chloe Richards who were elated with their success.

The Lisburn Girls C Group 4 x 50 Freestyle event saw another Gold in a time of 1.53.57. The Lisburn boys C Group event was a tight race, but the boys had to be content with Bronze medals as they watched their competitors Leander come home in 1st place and claim the Meet record in a superb fast time of 1.38.82, 10 seconds inside previous time held since 2006. Although the quartet of Nicky Galloway, Robert Allison, Peter Sands and Matthew Walker did not break the meet record their success allowed them to claim a long standing Lisburn City Club record with a time of 1.49.52.

The girls Open 4x50 Medley team Katie Reid, Bethany Carson, Rachel Smyth and Hannah Taylor got gold in a time of 2.07.47 and also lifted gold in the 4x50Freestyle with the help of Sarah O'Callaghan missing out by 1 second on breaking the Meet record.

Event 18 was for Parents and coaches. A merry team from Lisburn stepped up to the starting blocks with Head coach Andrew Reid included. Great spirit and racing by all giving a valiant performance, with Andy showing how it was done by finishing with a super 25M Fly bringing the team home in 3rd place. In Events 19 to 25 Lisburn's relay teams continued to finish in the top three; the C Group Mixed Crescendo event, the Mixed Mini 4x25Freestyle, the B Group Mixed Back Relay & the boys Open 4x50M Fly. In event 24 Girls Open 4x50M Fly race the Lisburn quartet of Katie Reid, Rachel Smyth, Jemma Bingham and Bethany Carson got 1st place in a superb race with a time of 2.05.30.

The final event of the evening was a Mixed 32x 25M Freestyle event made up of 16 boys and 16 girls of all ages; the grand finale and it was between Lisburn and Templemore most of the way, with Lisburn having the edge.

In the end it was Lisburn's night as they won all three awards. Proud Club Captains Katie Reid and Russell White stepped up to lift all the silverware with a very happy and proud home side.

Lisburn City Swimming Club fully appreciate the support from the visiting teams, their supporters, the Clubs' own Executive and the parents of the children who always make it a great night.

A special thanks goes to the organising team of Barbara Thompson, Betty Beattie and Irene Hill who worked extremely hard within the Club clocking up many hours preparing, planning and organising.