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Belfast Olympia Triumphs Again
The Belfast Olympia Lifesaving Club came home from the National Speed Championships in Sheffield with an incredible 70 medals.
Club coach Ruth Butler, herself also a competitor, was delighted with the outcome which far exceeded her greatest dreams. “All those hours of hard work really paid off,” she remarked.
Some might say that making a sport of lifesaving was a contradiction but if a 13 year old can throw you a rope and pull you in all in just over 10 seconds then he could be classed as a useful person to have around. Junior Boy Ruairi Barr did just that in the competition and not surprisingly took the gold medal. He and his team mates Matthew Cosgrove, Ayman Nasr, Patrick Short and Tom Dowling, as well as taking individual medals, placed 1st or 2nd in all 4 relays.
Their Junior Girl counterparts Jenna Orr, Rachael Henderson, Mary Toner, Emma Hartness and Nuala Bogue also came home with team and individual medals. Jenna and Rachael, both Victoria College pupils, took seven individual medals between them.
Senior Boys Patrick Bogue, Vincent Stuart, Conor O’Gorman and Jonathan Herald kept up their medal winning record taking placings in two out of four relays as well as a selection of gold, silver and bronze in individual events.
In the Under 18 rankings Belfast Olympia had good reason to be pleased as 1st place and the Patricia Russell Trophy went to Sarah Henderson, although she was competing for Victoria College on this occasion, she had trained alongside the rest of the team in preparation for the championships.
David Butler, who helped found the club in 2003, was on loan to the prestigious English Club Crawley Town and took a record number of 5 individual medals including gold in the difficult Rescue Medley and silver in the Super Lifesaver with a time 7 seconds faster than last year. He also helped his Crawley team mates to victory in 3 relay events.
“I’ll be back with Belfast Olympia next year,” David commented, “I am delighted at the success the club has had in such a short time and from such small beginnings. And I have to give credit to my sister Ruth who has worked so hard training our members, sometimes at the expense of her own training.”
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