Sport

Swim Ulster Primary Schools Cup & Championships 2025

Saturday 1^st March 2025 – Lagan Valley Leisureplex, Lisburn

Edenderry Primary School, Banbridge

Our team consisted of 6 boys, namely, Daniel JP5H, Alexander L P6S, Joe G P7G, Archie D P7G and Jacob A-D P7G and 1 girl, Alice McK P7G, who are all swimming teammates at Banbridge Amateur Swim club.  They represented Edenderry Primary School on Saturday the 1^st March 2025 at the Swim Ulster Primary Schools Cup and Championships, returning brilliant results, with 1 Gold Medal for Alexander in 50m Backstroke being the stand out result of the day, but there is much to be proud of.

5 swimmers achieved Irish Minor Schools qualifying times in their events, which means they have the opportunity to represent Edenderry Primary School in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin on Sunday the 30^th March 2025 in the Irish Primary Schools Championship and all 6 swimmers achieved at least one Personal Best time.   Our Edenderry Team spirit came to the fore with the boys relay team, namely Alexander, Archie, Joe  and Jacob, who narrowly missed out on medals with a 4^th in their IM relay only missing third place by 0.76 of a second and a 5^th in their freestyle relay again missing out on medals by the narrowest of margins, fantastic swimming by all boys in a relay field of 17 teams some of which were Year 8 Grammar school teams.

Daniel P5H

Daniel who only turned 9 in February was competing in his 3^rd ever gala and competing in 50m races for the first time.  He returned with a PB in 50m breast -stroke with a time of 1.05.68 and a PB in 50m Butterfly with a time of 57.54s which was also a IMS qualifying time.

Alexander P6S

Alexander swam exceptionally well – with his standout result being a Gold Medal for his 50m backstroke with a time of 45.72s, this was also a PB and an IMS qualifying time.  In his 50m butterfly he had another IMS qualifying time of 52.79s.  This is Alexander’s second year qualifying for the Irish Schools Swimming Championship.

Archie P7G

This was Archie’s second year competing at Ulster Schools gala and his first to qualify for Irish Schools.  Archie returned a PB and IMS qualification with his 100IM with a time of 1.45.01, and he also qualified for IMS with his 50m butterfly with a time of 49.19s

Joe P7G

This was Joe’s first year competing at the Ulster Schools gala in individual events, having got the bug for swimming after being part of Edenderry’s relay team last year.  Joe returned with a PB and IMS qualification with his 50m butterfly with a time of 44.47s and he also returned with a PB in 50m breast-stroke with a time of 57.06s

Jacob P7G

This was Jacob’s first ever Ulster Schools gala.  Having been injured last week at hockey and uncertain whether he would be fit to swim competitively, he returned with great results.  He was integral to the relay teams placing where they did and individually he had a 50m breast-stroke time of 59.65s, and a 50m backstroke time of 50.48s which was a significant PB for Jacob.

Alice P7G

This was Alice’s first ever Ulster Schools gala, having missed last year’s due to being on holiday.  Alice unfortunately hadn’t the opportunity to compete in relays as there were no other girls in Edenderry to form a team but she excelled herself in her individual events, returning with 2 PBs and 2 IMS qualifying times.  She swam a 43.77s in her 50m butterfly and a 1.35.16s in her 100 IM.

Summary of Individual Results

A great day and fantastic results by all swimmers.