It was yet another fantastic performance by Fins’ swimmers at the Carnegie Spring Meet, held at the Michael Woods Centre in Glenrothes, on the 17/18 May 2025.
The statistics from the meet are excellent. The meet was confined to 8 to 14 years; in single year age groups, and Fins’ swimmers certainly made the most of the opportunity to shine. The ages were based on age on the day of the meet.
Seventeen swimmers swam in a total of 103 swims, returning an excellent improvement rate of 87%, 90 PBs in total. 15 of which were in double figures. Just to clarify a point on this for those looking at Meet Mobile, where it may seem that the number of PBs is quite a bit less than those stated above. We are currently in the long course season and it is likely that some of the entry times are conversions and some of the swimmers who were swimming an event for the first time, to set their current PB, would have used a best estimated time. The report is based on actual short course times, most of which were recorded between October 2024 and February 2025, a few even earlier. There were also some marginal PBs where swimmers had recorded a PB at the Fife Leagues.
Three of the female swimmers, two in particular, had a major impact on Fins’ top 50 all-time rankings, which is outstanding, and while a few entries are closer to the 50 mark, most are well up the rankings with the top entry positioned in 12th place. Overall, there are 11 new entries plus 4 improved positions and 1 where there is no change to the swimmer’s position.
In terms of achievement there were 41 medals won by 10 of the swimmers, with 7 different swimmers recording at least one win. The medal totals were 22 gold, 14 silver, and 5 bronze. In addition, there were a further 49 swims that gained a top 10 finish and all bar one swimmer made a top 10. Three Fins swimmers were awarded the best swimmer award for their age category
It was very close between Lilian Blair, 13 years female, and Millie Whytock, 12 years female, to determine who was Fins’ top swimmer of the weekend, with both swimmers winning 7 gold medals each. However, Lilian just manged to shave top spot by virtue of an additional silver medal and the top entry position in the rankings.
The details of the swimmers’ performances and achievements are –
Lilian’s 7 gold medals came in the 100m and 200m individual medley, 100m butterfly, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, and 100m freestyle, plus a silver medal in the 50m butterfly.
Lilian’s time of 1 minute 12.22 seconds gave her an 11.08 second PB and means she enters the Fins’ rankings in an amazing 12th place, the highest entry of the weekend. This in turn means we lose Sophie Haig, who set her time at Carnegie in October 2011. The time now required for entry to the 100m individual medley is 1 minute 18.13 seconds.
In her 200m individual medley, Lilian recorded a time of 2 minutes 36.72 seconds, with a 7.56 second PB, which gave her the 2nd highest entry in to the Fins’ rankings in 22nd place another very good swim.
We therefore lose another swimmer off the rankings and this time it is Jacqui Rafferty, who set her time at Whitburn away back in April 1989. The time now required for entry to the 200m individual medley is 2 minutes 43.54 seconds.
Lilian made it the first three highest entry to the rankings with a time of 1 minute 11.58 seconds and a 7.26 second PB, to enter in 25th place in the 100m butterfly. This time the swimmer being displaced is Caroline Watson, who set her time at Glenrothes in March 1994. The new time to enter the 100m butterfly ranking now stands at 1 minute 15.52 seconds.
Unbelievably, Lillian also had the top three movements up the rankings with the highest placed movement coming in 50m breaststroke, with a time of 37.95 seconds and a 0.79 second PB, which propelled her up the rankings 19 places from 37th to 18th.
The largest movements up the rankings came in Lilian’s 200m backstroke and 100m freestyle. In the freestyle Lilian recorded a time of 1 minute 3.57 seconds with a very respectable, at this level, 2.23 second PB. This meant a movement up the rankings of 25 places from 47th to 22nd.
Similarly, there was a 25 place movement by Lilian in the 200m backstroke. Lilian’s time for the 200m backstroke was 2 minutes 33.43 seconds with a 8.01 second PB
which meant she moved up the rankings from 49th to 24th.
Lilian had one more entry into the Fins rankings and that was in the 100m breaststroke where she recorded a time of 1 minute 23.69 seconds, with a PB of 5.80 seconds, which meant she enters the 100m breaststroke rankings in 30th place. The swimmer who drops out on this occasion is Jacqui Thow, who set her time at Glenrothes in March 2005. The time now required to enter the 100m breaststroke rankings is 1 minute 26.98 seconds.
Needless to say, Lilian was a recipient of a best swimmer award.
Millie also won 7 gold medals, and at 12 years old it would be unreasonable to think that she could reach the performance level, or be higher in the rankings than Lilian. However, she did manage to secure 5 entries to Fins ranking, which is quite an achievement.
Millie’s gold medals were won in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, 50m and 200m freestyle, and 50m and 200m breaststroke.
Millie’s highest placed entry came in her 200m butterfly where she recorded a time of 2 minutes 56.48 seconds with a 20.21 second PB, which was the 3rd largest by a Fins’ swimmer at the weekend. The means that she enters the rankings in 33rd place, which is excellent. Again, someone must make way and this time it is Angela Bathgate who set her time at Glenrothes in February 1998. Swimmers looking to enter the 200m butterfly rankings will now need to achieve a time of 3 minutes 10.21 seconds.
Millie’s next highest entry to the rankings came in the 50m butterfly, where she recorded a time of 33.27 seconds, with a large PB for a 50m swim of 4.11 seconds, and enters the rankings in 36th place. Dropping out of the rankings is Catriona Child, whose time was set at Carnegie in November 1995. The new time to enter the 50 butterfly rankings now stands at 34.43 seconds.
Entry into the 200m freestyle in 41st place was next up for Millie and she did this with a time of 2 minutes 22.38 seconds, with a 10.32 second PB. Unfortunately, the swimmer to drop out is current squad member Irys Blair, who set her time at Ren 96 in March 2024. This is over a year ago and I am sure that given the opportunity for a 200m freestyle swim, Irys will be back. The time Irys, and any other swimmer will be shown later.
Millie also enters the rankings for the 100m butterfly in 43rd place with a time of 1 minute 14.98 seconds, a short course PB of 6.56 seconds. This time we lose Sophie Haig who set her time at Glenrothes in February 2009. The new entry time to the 100m butterfly rankings is shown above at Lilian’s entry.
Millie’s final entry to the rankings was in the 50m freestyle, where she recorded a time of 30.74 seconds, again with a very good 50m PB of 2.99 seconds. This means that not just one swimmer, but two drop out the rankings as there was a tie for 50th place between Megan Ovens, who set her time at the Falkirk Integrated Region Swim Team (FIRST) Meet in in January 2017, and yet again one of the current squads, Lilian Blair who set her time at the Fife Leagues, in the first leg of a relay in June 2024, and I am absolutely certain that Lilian will be back in the 50m freestyle rankings at the first opportunity she has to swim the event. The time to beat is now 30.82 seconds.
Millie’s other two wins in the 50m and 200m breaststroke were not quite fast enough to make the entry times for the rankings, but came very close. In the 200m breaststroke Millie recorded a 10.18 second PB and fell short of the entry time by just 2.28 seconds. Also in the 50m Breaststroke, another good 50m PB of 3.52 seconds just fell short by 1.18 seconds.
Again, no surprise that Millie was a recipient of a best swimmer award in her age category.
Cole Gray, 12 years male, won three gold medals in the 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and 200m freestyle, plus silver in the 100m individual medley and 100m backstroke, and was 4th in both the 50m butterfly and 100m breaststroke. Cole is already in the Fins’ rankings for the 200m butterfly in 46th place but was the unlucky swimmer who, despite a 6.61 second PB remains in 46th place., but was just 0.31 second short of moving.
Cole did manage two PBs in double figures, reducing his 400m freestyle by 13.27 seconds and his 100m individual medley, and although he showed good improvement, he is still quite a bit short on all his other events, but at 12 year old he has every chance of getting there pretty soon.
Ethan Pate, 13 years male, won two gold medals in the 400m freestyle, and 200m individual medley, four silver medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke, 50m freestyle, and the 100m butterfly, three bronze medals in the 50m butterfly, 50m breaststroke and 100m freestyle. In addition, Ethan was 5th in both the 50m backstroke and 100m individual medley.
Ethan’s top swim was his 400m freestyle in a time of 4 minutes 48.32 seconds, and a 6.48 second PB. This moved him up the rankings by one place from 49th to 48th, but he is now in a position where similar improvement will have a more significant effect on the rankings.
The remainder of Ethan’s swims made steady progress but didn’t quite make the rankings. His closest four swims were – 1.96 seconds short on the 50m butterfly, 2.16 seconds short on the 50m freestyle, 2.17 seconds short on the 50m backstroke, and 2.66 seconds short on the 100m individual medley. Certainly, getting closer to a breakthrough.
Ethan’s achievements in terms of positions meant that Ethan was the third swimmer to win a best swimmer award in his age category.
Elliot Blair, 11 years male, won one gold medal in the 400m freestyle, three silver medals in the 100m individual medley, 50m backstroke, and 200m breaststroke. In addition, Elliot was 4th in both the 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly, and 5th in both the 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle.
At 11 years old there are no expectations for Elliot to be in the Fins’ rankings, but he did manage to record some stead PBs, and that is what is required. His top three improvements were – 4.27 seconds improvement in his 100m individual medley, a 4.11 seconds improvement in his 100m backstroke, and a 3.17 seconds improvement in his 100m freestyle.
Eva Watson, 13 years female, had just three swims at the weekend, but certainly made the most of them, winning a gold medal for the 200m freestyle, a silver medal for the 400m freestyle, and was 5th in the 100m backstroke.
More importantly for Eva was that she had two entries to the Fins rankings with her highest entry coming in the 400m freestyle in 26th place. This was achieved with a time of 4 minutes 53.99 seconds, and the largest PB by a Fins’ swimmer, at the weekend, of 23.26 seconds.
The swimmer dropping out the rankings is Leeann Sinclair who set her time at Carnegie in March 1995.
The time now required for entry to the 400m freestyle is 5 minutes 10.64 seconds.
Eva’s other entry was in the 200m freestyle, this time in 46th place and was achieved with a time of 2 minutes 23.55 seconds and a PB of just 1.97 seconds.
The swimmer who leaves the rankings is Caroline Watson, who set her time at Carnegie in September 1994 and the new time required to enter the 200m freestyle ranking is 2 minutes 24.38 seconds, so very tight at the bottom end,
Eva recorded a good PB in her 100m backstroke of 4.09 seconds but is short of entry to the rankings by 6.02 seconds.
The remaining gold medal of the weekend was won by Jack Campbell, 13 years male, in the 200m butterfly. Jack also won a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly. His other placings were – 4th in both the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley, 5th in the 50 m butterfly, 7th in both the200m backstroke and 50m freestyle, 8th in the 100m freestyle, 9th in the100m backstroke and 11th in the 100m individual medley.
Jack’s top swim was his 200m butterfly with a time of 2 minutes 54.64 seconds and a 13.28 second PB, he moves up the Fins’ rankings from 47th to 43rd.
Jack’s other swims are still a bit short of the entry points for Fins rankings but he is certainly making good progress towards the rankings with a further three PBs in double figures including a 17.81 second PB in his 200m individual medley, which was the 4th largest by a Fins’ swimmer. Jacks other two double figure PBs were 12.24 seconds off his 200m freestyle, and 10.21 seconds off his 200m backstroke.
Charlie Jack, 10 years male, won two silver medals in the 100m breaststroke and 50m backstroke. He also finished 4th in the 100m freestyle and was 6th in both the 50m breaststroke and 100m individual medley, and he had a 9th place finish in the 50m freestyle. At 10 years old Fins’ rankings are not a possibility. However, Charlie had some good improvements recording the 2nd largest Fins’ PB in the 100m individual medley of 20.28 seconds, and the 6th largest in the 100m freestyle of 14.116 seconds.
Caleb Gray, 14 years male, won a silver medal in the 100m backstroke. He also finished 4th in the 200m individual medley, 6th in the 100m breaststroke, 7th in both the 50m breaststroke and 100m butterfly, 8th in the 50m backstroke, 10th in both the 50m and 100m freestyle, and 11th in the 50m butterfly.
Caleb’s times are still a bit away from the ranking entry requirements and although he did record several PBs they tended to be fairly modest, but PBs nevertheless.
Caleb’s top three PBs were 2.92 seconds improvement in his 100m breaststroke, 2.74 seconds improvement in his 100m backstroke, and 1.39 seconds improvement in his 50m breaststroke.
Harvey Whytock, 14 years male, won the only remaining Fins medal, a bronze in the 100m butterfly. Harvey was also 4th in the 200m breaststroke, 6th in the 50m freestyle, and 7th in both the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke.
As Harvey has recently joined Fins three of his swims were the first to be recorded and therefore set his PB moving forward.
Two of Harvey’s times are not too far away from the Fins’ ranking time and they are 1.28 seconds short in the 50m freestyle and 2.66 seconds short on the 50m backstroke.
The remaining results were –
Lily-Mae McDonald, 10 years female, was 4th in the 100m breaststroke, and 5th in the 50m and 100m freestyle, and the 50m butterfly
Sadie Paton, 12 years female, was 5th in both the 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly, 6th in both the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke, 7th in the 200m individual medley, 8th in both the 50m and 200m breaststroke, and 9th in the 100m freestyle. Sadie achieved two double figure PBs, reducing her previous best in the 200m individual medley by 13.63 seconds, and her 200m breaststroke by 11.22 seconds.
Chelsea Walker, 11 years female, was 5th in the 200m freestyle, 6th in the 100m backstroke, 11th in the 100m individual medley, and 12th in the 50m breaststroke. Chelsea achieved the Fins’ 5th largest PB in her 200m freestyle of 14.18 seconds.
Leyton Neilson, 11 years male, was 7th in the 200m breaststroke, 10th in the 50m freestyle, and 14th in the 100m freestyle.
Antonia Adie, 11 years female, 8th in the 50m butterfly, 10th in the 100m backstroke, and 16th in the 100m breaststroke.
Summer Ramshaw, 12 years female, was 9th in the 100m individual medley, 12th in the 59m breaststroke, and 17th in both the 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle.
Eilidh Needham, 11 years female, was 23rd in the 10m freestyle. This was Eilidh’s first swim at this level of competition and she now has a target PB, and hopefully she will be able to add to this event in the next few months.
Apologies for the length of this report, but there were so many positive aspects of the weekend that needed to be highlighted. The overall improvement was excellent and the three female swimmers did not just creep into the top 50 Fins all-time rankings, which have no ages attached, the have established themselves well up the rankings.
We are approaching the end of the first part of the year and hopefully the swimmers will be able to keep the level of improvement.
Well done again to all the swimmers.
Thanks also to Laura McQuade for supplying the photos.