Thirteen Fins’ swimmers had an encouraging start to their short course season at the East District Time Trials held at the Michael Woods Centre in Glenrothes, with all swimmers recording at least one PB

The swimmers had a total of 32 swims recording 27 PBs, and while they also had four – 1st, five 2nd, two – 3rd, and a further thirteen top 10 finishes, in the context of a time trial these are less important.

What is important is the improvement achieved by each swimmer, and there were some excellent improvements with six of the swimmers recording PBs in double figures, five swimmers recording PBs between 5.37 seconds and 8.31 seconds and the remaining two swimmers recording PBs of between 1.87 seconds and 2.19 seconds.

L to R – Cole, Eden, Caleb, Irys, Elliot, Eva, Chelsea, and Grace

Top performance came from Irys Blair, 15 years girls, who was the only swimmer to make an impact on Fins’ top 50 all time short course rankings. She did this by improving her position in the 200m butterfly with a 9.64 second PB moving her from 46th place to 33rd. Irys also entered the rankings in the 200m breaststroke in 48th place with another excellent PB of 9.09 seconds.
By entering the rankings one former swimmer must drop out and this time it is Laura Muir who set her time at the Fife Schools Championships in Kirkcaldy Pool in November 1987.

The largest improvement was achieved by Cole Gray, 13years boys, who reduced his 400m freestyle by 33.48 seconds. Cole also reduced his 200m breaststroke by 9.09 seconds.

The other swimmers to achieve double figure improvements were:
Chelsea Walker, 11/12 girls, who reduced her 100m backstroke by 14.72 seconds. Chelsea also had two more good PBs reducing her 100m freestyle time by 9.36 seconds, and her 100m breaststroke by 7.25 seconds.

Eden Mackie, 13 years girls, with a 13.14 second reduction in her 100m freestyle. Eden also two further reductions above the 5 second mark and they were 8.74 seconds in her 100m backstroke and 7.49 seconds in her 100m breaststroke.

Ethan Pate, 14 years boys, who reduced his 200m breaststroke by 12.44 seconds, and,

Caleb Gray, 14 years boys, who also reduced his 200m breaststroke, by 12.37 seconds

It should be noted that both Ethan and Caleb just had a single swim each.

The most prolific improver with 6 PBs was Eva Watson, 14 years girls. Eva’s top improvement was a 6.63 second PB in her 100m breaststroke. She also reduced her 100m butterfly by 5.53 second, her 200m individual medley by 4.43 seconds, and her 100m freestyle by 3.37 seconds. Eva’s two remaining PBs were achieved in her 100m backstroke and 400m individual medley with both between one and two seconds.

Three/four other swimmers achieved improvements between 5 and 10 seconds and they were:
Summer Ramshaw, 13 year girls, who reduced her 100m freestyle by 8.31 seconds, and her 100m breaststroke by 5.64 second.

Elliot Blair, 11/12 boys, reduced his 100m breaststroke by 6.82 seconds, and,

Grace Mills, 11/12 girls, reduced her 100m freestyle by 5.37 seconds

Again, Elliot and Grace had just a single swim each.

It is very likely that Finnley McDonald, 16 years boys, was also in the 5 to 10 second improvement range. There is no recorded time at Fins for his 200m breaststroke, but Meet Mobile is showing an improvement of over 7 seconds. Finnley also recorded a PB in his 100m backstroke, under 1 second.

The remaining two swimmers were Jack Campbell, 13 years boys, who improved his 100m breaststroke by 2.19 seconds, and Abby Morris, 17/O girls who reduced her 100m butterfly by 1.87 seconds.

Well done, to all the swimmers, and please remember that the Fins’ top 50 all time rankings have no age categories and therefore favour the older and more experienced swimmers. However. what everyone has achieved at the time trials is that they are now closer to entry than they were before. Which highlights the fact that to improve your swimming the first person you must beat is YOUSELF, again with help from your coach.

Ken White

Club Press Officer