Inverclyde Now Logo SWIMMING — Inverclyde ASC Squad At West District Long Course Meet

15 January, 2019 | Local

SWIMMERS from Inverclyde Amateur Swimming Club headed to Tollcross for round one of the West District Long Course Age Group Championships.

Thirteen swimmers represented the club in a total of 32 races. Training for the youngsters carried on over the festive period to ensure everyone arrived fresh and ready to race. All swimmers had to achieve tough qualifying times to be able to compete at the two-day event, and for some, it was their first time racing in a long course (50-metre pool) competition.

There were impressive performances all round, with multiple new personal best (PB) times, several finalists and even a couple of medals.

Aimee Watson and Jay Keith

Competing in the 100-metre backstroke, freestyle and butterfly, Aimee Watson improved her times in each event and came a very impressive fifth, fourth and third place respectively. As a Scottish champion in breaststroke, it was exciting for the club to see Aimee being so consistently competitive in her other strokes.

Competing in four events, Jay Keith produced solid swims for the 100-metre backstroke and 100-metre freestyle, achieving a good PB for the freestyle. But it was the butterfly events in which Jay showed his talent. He came fifth in the 100-metre race with a new PB, and finished a fantastic third place in the 200-metre event with a massive 10-second PB. One of the youngest swimmers representing the club, Luke Garrity, had a great meet with two fourth-place finishes in the 400-metre freestyle and the 100-metre breaststroke. A six-second PB in the freestyle event topped off his successful performance.

Impressing the coaches on their long course debuts were April Craynor and Peter Maloney. April was in 100-metre races across all four strokes, achieving PBs in three of them and making the final of the 100-metre backstroke, in which she finished ninth. Peter had a similarly impressive debut. Competing in the 100-metre backstroke and freestyle and the 100-metre and 200-metre butterfly, Peter also claimed three new PBs, and made the finals for the backstroke and butterfly races. He came eighth in the backstroke event, sixth in the 100-metre butterfly and claimed fourth in the 200-metre butterfly, with a huge eight-second PB.

Other finalists for the weekend included Adam Brooks, Alistair Currie and Betty Fischer-Keogh. Adam made the final of the 400-metre freestyle in which he finished 10th and recorded solid performances and a new PB in the 100-metre backstroke and butterfly. Alistair and Betty both made the finals of their 100-metre freestyle races, coming seventh and fifth with a new PB each. Betty also competed in the 100-metre breaststroke.

Lucy Campbell and Ashleigh Blyth were unlucky to just miss out on the finals for the 100-metre butterfly, in which they both finished 12th in their age groups.

Outside of the finals, there were strong performances and new PBs from several swimmers. In the 100-metre freestyle Ashleigh Blyth, Anna McClafferty, Oliver Patton and Ben Skinner all improved their times. Oliver also improved his 100-metre breastroke time, along with Wladek Zawadzki. Ben was unlucky to just miss out on a new PB for this event.

Andrew said: “Competition was fierce. We had a lot of other swimmers who achieved the times needed but didn’t get a place in the races as the fastest swimmers are selected first. So to see such a strong team performance –- especially from those who’ve never competed in long course –- was extremely encouraging.”

The next round of the West District championships takes place in early February and switches from 100-metre events to the 50-metre and 200-metre races. Coaches for the event Andrew Dyer and Kyara Finlay were pleased with the performance of the club.

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