St. Mary’s College minor squads came away with a fantastic haul of 23 medals at Saturday’s Ulster Schools Swimming Gala in Ballymena.

The girls left early Saturday morning to make the journey to the Seven Towers Leisure Centre and completed against some of the strongest schools across Northern Ireland.

Proud coach Gerard Curran heaped praise on the eleven Year 8 and 9 girls who made up the team and said it was down to hard work in training that paid off.

“I’m extremely proud of all the girls for the way they performed on the day but also the dedication in training throughout the year. The hard work paid dividends on Saturday and all put in a shift to come away with 23 medals between them.”

Mr. Curran went on to praise the many parents who made the long journey to Ballymena to spectate and cheer the girls on and for the superb support from the school in training kits for the team.

Year 8 student Mia McKinney came away with four medals, picking up gold in the individual 50m front crawl; bronze in the individual 50m backstroke as well as two silver relay medals in the medley and freestyle.

Speaking on Tuesday, Vice Principal Stephen Keown also praised the girls.

“It is fantastic to see our pupils and Swim/Tri Academy flourishing. I concur with Gerard, their enthusiasm is reflected in their recent achievements and we look forward with anticipation to their continued successes both in swimming and triathlon.”

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