The second round of the Scottish East District Age Group Championships were held last Saturday and Sunday at the Bathgate Xcite Sports Centre. All the events were contested over 200m, in each of the four individual strokes.
Fins had six swimmers competing, and despite a couple of misfortunes still managed to have an excellent weekend. The six swimmers competed in a total of fourteen swims and manged to win four district titles, to add to the three from round one. In addition, another club record was set and the swimmers also won 2 silver and a bronze medal, and had a further 6 swims in the top 8 placings.
The six swimmers competed in a total of 14 swims, 12 of which resulted in a PB, making that an improvement rate of 86%.
The top swimmer in round two was Erin Taylor, 17 and over girls, who recorded her third club record in four weeks when she won the Breaststroke event, beating Thanrada McGregor of Warrender Baths. Erin got off to a very good start and by the first turn had set up a lead of around 1.5 seconds, which she maintained until the final turn when an excellent turn by Thanrada reduced her lead to around 0.5 of a second. However, with a lot a determination Erin regained control down the final length to win by just over a second. Erin’s time of 2 minutes 35.82 seconds was a 5.16 second PB and beat the previous record, set in November 2004 by 2.62 seconds. Erin very nearly recorded a second club record as her 100m split time was just 9 one hundredths of a second outside the club’s 100m breaststroke record.
Erin added a second District title by winning the butterfly event.
Adam Selbie, 11/12 boys added another district title to his collection, in the freestyle, which he won fairly comfortably, but there were mixed fortunes for Adam when he was disqualified for a technical infringement in the breaststroke.
There was a first ever title for Irys Blair, 11/12 girls, in the butterfly, improving on her entry time by 8.15 seconds.
The other medal winners were Mark Scott, 16 years boys, with two silvers in the freestyle and breaststroke; and a bronze medal for 11 year old Ethan Pate, 11/12 boys. Ethan was the fastest 11 year old and will still be in the same group next year.
Just missing out on a medal was Steven Pate, 15 years boys, who finished 4th in the Breaststroke.
Club info:
Full results from round 2 were:
Erin – 1st in both the breaststroke and butterfly, and 8th I the freestyle
Irys – 1st in the butterfly; 7th in the backstroke and 8th in the freestyle
Adam – 1st in the freestyle
Mark – 2nd in both the breaststroke and freestyle and 6th in the butterfly
Ethan – 3rd in the butterfly and 5th in the backstroke
Steven – 4th in the breaststroke and 13th in the freestyle
In terms of Fins’ top 50 rankings Erin’s club record moves her from 3rd place to 1st beating the record set by Ashely Warrender at Glenrothes in November 2004. Erin’s 100m split time in the breaststroke was a 0.85 second PB and was just 9 one hundredths of a second off the club record set by Sarah Chapman, again at Glenrothes, in March 2007.
Despite a 0.3 second PB in her butterfly Erin remains in 2nd place but edges to within 2.66 seconds of the record.
Mark’s breaststroke time was a 9.83 second PB which moves him from 29th to 15th in the rankings.
Steven’s breaststroke time was a 17.16 second PB which gained him entry to the top 50 rankings in 35th place. This means that Peter Strong has to drop out and the new entry time drops from 2 minutes 58.96 seconds to 2 minutes 57.84 seconds.
Very encouraging, is the fact that all six swimmers have at least one ranking in the Scottish Age Group rankings, top 20..
Things are going very well at the moment and Steven and Mark also continue to improve. However, Erin’s swims at the weekend, especially her breaststroke were exceptional, at this level. Her times in the breaststroke and butterfly place her 3rd in the 17 years Scottish rankings in both events. If Erin continues the improvement, she has shown over the past four weeks, who knows where this could lead.
Looking at the Overall Scottish Rankings, including the seniors, then Erin is Currently ranked 12th in the 200m breaststroke and a 2 second PB could mover her up to 8th place and top ranking 17 year old. Her butterfly position is 19th.
After two rounds of the District Championships, Fins have consolidated their position as top Fife Club of those participating. The current Solripe Trophy points are: FS – 54; IS – 39; CE – 25; GS – 12; SR – 6; BD – 0; CR – 0
Despite being a relatively small club, Fins are currently lying 8th club in the East District, but only 3 points away from 6th place from the 27 participating clubs.