Scottish National Open Water Swimming Championships 14/15 June 2025

The Scottish National Open Water Swimming Championships were held on the 15^th and 15th June 2025 at the Galloway Activity Centre, Loch Ken, Dumfries and Galloway and day one certainly proved to be eventful.

Fins had four swimmers entered and they achieved their best National Championship results.

The first event on the Saturday was the 5K but not long after the start a thunder storm meant that 55 swimmers had to be removed from the water, by the support boats, and returned to the safety of the call room to await a restart. When the race did get underway there were mixed fortunes for two Fins swimmers, with Caleb Gray, 13/14 years male, winning a bronze medal, and as this was a qualifying event for the British Open Water Championships, with the top three swimmers qualifying, Caleb will be off to Sheffield next month.

The event was won by Blair Tatlow, Garioch ASC, who finished 2 minutes 19 seconds ahead of Jansan Basketter, City of Glasgow Swim Team, who in turn finished 1 minute 52 seconds ahead of Caleb.

Kristin Mackay, 17 to 24 years female, was not so fortunate as she felt unwell following the first attempt at the 5K, but tried to have a go in the restart. Unfortunately, she could not continue and had to be removed from the water.

Day two of the Championships was the complete opposite to day one, with the sun shining, and there was more success for Fins swimmers. None of the events on day two were qualifying events for the British Championships.

Top swimmer for Fins was Lilian Blair, 13/14 years female who won a silver medal in the 2k finishing 1 minute 45 seconds behind Esmay Anderson, University of Aberdeen Performance Team.

There was also more success for Caleb winning a further two bronze medals in the 1K and 2K events. In the 1K event the winner was Jansan Basketter who finished 1 minute 50 seconds ahead of Matthew Gray, Step Rock ASC who just edged Caleb out of a silver medal by 2 seconds.

The 2K was won by Han Diddee, Tynemouth ASC, who finished 2 minutes 5 seconds ahead of Blair Tatlow, with Caleb 34 seconds behind Blair. The remaining Fins’ swimmer was Irys Blair, 15/16 years female, who just missed out on a bronze medal, again by 2 seconds, from Maia Stall, Step rock ASC.