Swimming

There are up to 7 school swimming competitions each year, run by Swim Ulster, Swim Ireland or Ulster Schools Swimming.  These competitions are open for any student who either currently swims for a club or is a keen novice.  These competitions include:

September

Ulster schools swimming relay gala for all students

October

Swim Ulster Schools Gala for all students in Years 8-14 – this gala is used for interprovincial team selection.  The Inter-pro Team Event is held in the NAC Dublin in April/May each year.
Swim Ulster minor schools section for students in Year 8 & 9 – students must compete in this meet to qualify for the Irish minor schools meet.

November

Ulster schools Grammar schools gala is for all students in Years 8-14

January

Ulster Schools Secondary schools gala for all students in all Years  8-14 – students can qualify from this meet onto the junior Tenerife Schools training camp or the Senior London Training camp.

February

Swim Ireland Irish Minor schools held in Dublin – Qualification for this gala is through the Swim Ulster schools meets.

May/June

Ulster schools Minor schools gala for Year 8 & 9 students

Students are invited to nominate themselves for selection if they wish to participate and represent the school at any or all of the above meets.

ANNUAL REPORT 2024-25

Congratulations to all our talented swimmers who represented Ballymena Academy at the Ulster Schools’ Swimming competitions this year. Exceptional performances came from Kai Anand, Emma Carroll, Aaron Caskey, Joel Gamble, Mollie Gurney, and Shaw Patterson, along with Bianca Buzea, Zara Cumming, Sophie Campbell, Eva Hanbidge, Anish Anand, and Riley Brown, all achieving personal or seasonal bests.

Shaw Patterson, Joel Gamble, and Emma Carroll reached the finals of the USSA Championships. Sophie Campbell, in her first schools’ gala, competed in individual events and formed part of the junior relay teams with Eva Hanbidge, Bianca Buzea, and Zara Cumming. Eva made the Junior 100m Butterfly final, while Shaw reached the Junior 200m Individual Medley final.

Aaron Caskey was a finalist in the Senior 100m Backcrawl, and Joel in the Intermediate 100m Butterfly, with Aaron also first reserve in the Senior Boys’ event. The boys’ relay team placed 6th and 8th in the Medley and Freestyle relays respectively, with two boys swimming up an age group.

Riley Brown was selected for the Ulster Regional Squad and won bronze in the Junior 100m Breaststroke, narrowly missing a spot on the Ulster Interprovincial team. Aaron Caskey earned a place on the Intermediate Schools’ team, enjoying a training weekend in London’s 2012 Olympic Aquatic Centre.

Best wishes to all our swimmers as they continue their club season.