Thirty three swimmers were in action at the Michael Woods Centre, Glenrothes, last Saturday, 23 in the Fife League and 10 in the Novice League, and the excellent start that the swimmers have made to the year certainly continued.
In the League the 23 swimmers contested 41 swims, recording 28 PBs, a good solid 71% improvement rate. They also achieved 12 – 1st; 7 – 2nd; and 5 – 3rd placings, plus a further 17 top 10 finishes, i.e. all 41 swims resulted in a 10th place or better.
Two swimmers achieved two wins, Lilian Blair, 13/14 female, and Millie Whytock, 8/12 female.
Lilian won both the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, and her 200m butterfly was one of just three swims to affect the Fins’ top 50 rankings. A 9.07 second PB was the 4th largest by a Fins’ swimmer and moves Lilian from 47th to 35th.
Millie won both the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley, and she claimed the 2nd largest PB in the 200m individual medley of 10.44 seconds. Millie is moving very close to the rankings in a few events.
Two swimmers also had a win and a second place, Bryony Smart, 8/12 female, and Elliot Blair, 8/12 male.
Bryony winning the 100m backstroke and was 2nd in the 100m freestyle. Bryony recorded the 3rd largest PB of 10.27 seconds in the 100m freestyle and the 6th largest of 7.99 seconds in the 100m backstroke.
Elliot won the 100m backstroke and was 2nd in the 50m freestyle.
Chelsea Walker, 8/12 female, won the 200m backstroke, and was 5th in the 50m freestyle. In the 50m freestyle Chelsea recorded the 7th largest PB of 7.72 seconds.
Three more winners also achieved a 6th place finish, and they were – Summer Ramshaw, 13/14 female, Jack Campbell, 13/14 male, and Kimberley McCabe, 15/O female.
Summer won the 50m breaststroke, and was 6th in the 200m freestyle; Jack won the 50m butterfly and was 6th in the 50m freestyle; and Kimberley won the 200m breaststroke and was 6th in the 50m breaststroke.
Cole Gray, 13/14 male, won the 200m individual medley, and was 7th in the 50m freestyle. In his 200m individual medley Cole recorded the 5th largest PB of 8.18 seconds.
The remaining winner was Grace Wilson, 15/O female who won the 50m freestyle.
Two brothers Ethan and Steven Pate,13/14 and 15/O male, respectively, gained a 2nd and a 3rd placing with Ethan 2nd in the 100m butterfly and 3rd in the 100m freestyle, while Steven was 2nd in the 50m breaststroke and 3rd in the 50m freestyle.
The largest PB, by a Fins’ swimmer, was recorded by Harvey Whytock, 15/O male, who reduced his 200m butterfly by 15.85 seconds, to take 2nd place. Harvey also finished 6th in the 100m butterfly.
Olivia Bak, 8/12 female, was 2nd in the 100m backstroke and 10th in the 100m freestyle.
Alexsandra Waz, 13/14 female, was 2nd in the 50m breaststroke.
Finnley McDonald, 15/O male, was 3rd in the 200m freestyle and 4th in the 50m freestyle.
Sadie Paton, 13/14 female, was 3rd in the 200m individual medley, and 5th in the 100m freestyle.
Ben Lewis, 15/O male, was 3rd in the 50m breaststroke. Ben recorded a 2.51 second PB, which in turn moves Ben from 41st to 26th in the rankings.
So far that is 18 of the 23 swimmers accounted for all achieving a top three finish which is an excellent performance overall.
Irys Blair, 15/O female, gained two 4th placings, in the 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley. A 0.29 second PB, in the individual medley, moves Irys up two places in the rankings from 31st to 29th.
Leyton Neilson, 8/12 male, was 4th in the 50m breaststroke.
The remaining the swimmers were:
Olivia Hathaway, 13/14 female, 5th in the 50m breaststroke
Kaja Debska, 13/14 female, 6th in the 100m breaststroke, and 8th in the 50m backstroke, and,
Lily Bonnar, 13/14 female, 7th in the 50m backstroke, and 9th in the 100m freestyle.
In addition there were two mixed 4x50m freestyle relays, with the 15/O team of Irys, Finnley, Grace W, and Steven, finishing 2nd, and the 13/14 team of Cole, Lilian, Sadie, and Ethan, finishing 5th.
The ten swimmers who competed in the novice league recorded a 95% improvement rate and from the 20 swims they achieved 5 wins, 1 – 2nd, and 1- 3rd placing, plus 11 – top 10 finishes.
One swimmer achieved two wins, and that was Luke Gilhooley, 11/13 male, who won the 25m freestyle and 25m backstroke
Lily-Mae McDonald, 8/10 female, won the 100m breaststroke and was 2nd in the 100m individual medley.
Vanessa Qlczak, 11/113 female, won the 25m backstroke, and was 5th in the 50m breaststroke.
The remaining winner was Izzy Crawford, 11/13 female, who won the 25m breaststroke and was 12th in the 50m backstroke.
The remaining swimmer to gain a 3rd placing was Keavie Morrison, 8/10 female, who was 3rd in the 25m breaststroke, and 11th in the 50m backstroke.
Cain Gray, 8/10 male, was 4th in the 50m backstroke, and 7th in the 50m freestyle. A good result from one of two 8 year olds in the Novice League.
Ollie McLafferty, 11/13 male was 5th in the 50m breaststroke, and 8th in the 40m backstroke.
Grace Pereira, 11/13 female, was 8th in the 50m backstroke, and 9th in the 50m freestyle
The other 8 year old to do well was Alix Jack, 8/10 female, who was 8th in 25m butterfly, and 10th in the 25m freestyle.
The final swimmer was Ava-Liana Drummond, 8/10 female, who was 9th in both the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle.
The thing that stands out for me, having completed the report, is the change that has taken place at the top of the league report where it is now populated by more younger, relatively inexperienced swimmers, which can only bode well for the Club.
Also, all bar one of the swims in the Novice League were first competitive swims in a particular event and again all the swimmers did exceptionally well.
Ken White
Club Press Officer