Eight Fins’ swimmers competed in the Fife Novice League, held last Sunday Morning at the Michael Woods Centre, but unfortunately no Fins’ swimmers competed in the Fife Leagues in the afternoon.
Three clubs, including Fins, decided to withdraw their swimmers from the Fife Leagues following a decision by local officials to downgrade the level of the meet which in turn meant that any times set by the swimmers would not be accredited.
This affected the majority, if not all, of the Fins’ swimmers in that any times achieved could not be used to enhance their National Ranking and probably more important could not be used as an entry time for upcoming events such as the Scottish National Age Group Championships. The meet therefore became inappropriate and meaningless for the swimmers.
It can only be hope that the issue that led to the local officials making their decision can be resolved before the second round of the Fife League takes place in a few weeks’ time.
On a more positive note the eight swimmers who competed in nine events in the Fife Novice Leagues turned in an excellent performance achieving a 100% improvement rate. They gained a second place and a third place finish and had a further four top 10 finishes.
Top Fins’ swimmer with a 2nd place was Niamh Doherty, 9/U girls, and this came in her 25m Freestyle.
3rd and 5th places were also gained by her twin sister Mairi Doherty, and they came in the 25m Breaststroke and 50m Backstroke respectively.
The remaining three top 10 finishes came from:
Mollymina Kirkwood, 10/O girls, 6th – 50m Freestyle
Fern Selbie, 10/O girls, 10th – 50m Breaststroke
Ciaran Burns, 10/O boys, 10th – 50m Backstroke
The largest improvement was recorded by Katy Nicholson, 10/O girls, who reduced her 50m Butterfly by 7.86 second and came very close to a top 10 placing. Another improvement worthy of note was achieve by Fern, who reduced her 50m Breaststroke by 3.94 seconds.
The two remaining swimmers who got a bit closer to a top ten finish were Charlotte Wardlaw and Grace Wilson, both 10/O girls.