SWIMMING — Success For Inverclyde ASC At Future Stars EventFOURTEEN Inverclyde Amateur Swimming Club swimmers took to the water at the West District Future Stars competition in Tollcross.
Thirteen medals were won and 26 new personal best (PB) times were set over the two-day event. Races were contested across three age groups: 11 to 14-year-olds, 15 to 16-year-olds and 17’s and over. For many swimmers at the younger end of the age groups, the event is a chance to gain race experience against high quality competition and hopefully set new PBs and improved seedings.
Sam Sharkey was in impressive form in the 17-plus category, coming away with two golds and two silvers. He won gold for the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke –- setting a new PB in his 100-metre -– and took silver for the 50 -metre butterfly and freestyle with another new PB in the butterfly.
Molly Cannon was equally impressive in the 15 to 16-years category, winning both of her events on the Sunday. She set a new PB to win the 400-metre individual medley (IM) and improved on her second place seeding in the 50-metre backstroke.
Molly Cannon, Ashleigh Blyth and Jay Keith
Fellow 15-year-old Ashleigh Blyth also had a great competition, winning silver in the 50-metre backstroke and bronze in the 50-metre freestyle by setting new PBs and improving on her seedings in both events. Ashleigh also came eighth in the 200-metre backstroke, ahead of her ninth place seeding, and matched her 17th place seeding in the 100-metre freestyle.
One of the busiest swimmers of the weekend was Jay Keith, who was rewarded with two medals and five new PBs for his seven events in the 11 to 14 category. Jay won silver in the 100-metre breaststroke and bronze in the 100-metre butterfly. Like Ashleigh, Jay set PBs and improved on his seedings in both events. Equally impressive were the PBs he set in the 50-metre breaststroke and butterfly to finish 5th and 6th respectively: a great improvement from his 13th and 10th place seedings. Jay also matched or improved on his seedings in the 50-metre backstroke, 200-metre butterfly and 400-metre freestyle, showing the diversity of his talent in both strokes and distances.
Another busy swimmer was Kian McNelis who swam in six events in the 15 to 16 category. Kian also came away with a silver and a bronze medal and set another two PBs in the process: silver for the 50-metre freestyle and bronze for the 100-metre backstroke. Kian also secured top-10 finishes in the 100-metre butterfly, the 200-metre IM and the 800-metre freestyle and an 11th place in the 50-metre butterfly.
The final medallist of the event was Adam Brooks, who scooped a bronze medal for the 400-metre freestyle with a new PB in the 15 to 16 category. He also came fourth in the 50-metre backstroke and set new PBs in the 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle.
Cammy Kerr took sixth place in the 1500-m freestyle with a new PB for the 15 to 16 category and finished 14th in the 800-m freestyle. Oliver Patton set new PBs in the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke, improving on his seedings in both events and was just outside his best time in the 400-metre freestyle.
In the 17 and over category, Lauren Macleay wasn’t able to improve on her times but still managed to finish in a respectable fifth and seventh place in the 100-metre freestyle and 200-metre IM. Brother Darren was also just outside his fastest times, but still put in solid performances in the 50-metre breaststroke, backstroke and 100-metre butterfly.
Two females came away with 100 per cent PBs from the competition — Abbie Logan and Anna McClafferty. Fifteen-year-old Abbie was at the younger end of her events and did well to finish 13th, ahead of her 19th-place seeding in the 100-metre breaststroke and beat her 31st place seeding in the 100-metre freestyle to take 25th. Fourteen-year-old Anna finished 20th from a 33rd place seeding in the 50-metre freestyle and moved from a 56th place seeding to finish 39th in the 100-metre backstroke.
Thirteen-year-old April Craynor also improved her times and outperformed her rankings in three of her four events. She set new PBs in the 50-metre butterfly, 100-metre butterfly and 100-metre backstroke, moving up on her seedings each time to finish 38th, 40th and 29th.
At just 11-years-old, Luke Garrity was the youngest swimmer to represent the club. Swimming against much older competition, Luke set a new PB to finish 43rd in the 100-metre backstroke ahead of his 54th place ranking. He was unlucky to finish just outside his best time in the 200-metre breaststroke, but still managed 24th fastest in the 11 to 14 years age group.
