This time we look at the 50m Breaststroke Event and a comparison between the female and the male top 50 is quite interesting. The gap between the top and bottom of the female rankings is just 6.19 seconds, while the gap in the male rankings is 7.42 seconds so, in relative terms, perhaps harder to make it on to the female rankings, or is it?

The top ranked female, and from the current squads, is Erin Taylor who set the club record of 34.51 seconds at the 1st round of the East District Age Group Championships in January this year. This time would rank Erin in 32nd place in the male rankings (see below).

In addition to Erin, there is one more current swimmer in the top 50 and that is Ailsa Burns who is sitting at 44th in the rankings with a time of 40.29 seconds set at the Fife Leagues in March 2020. The times are fairly close together in this area and 0.5 seconds improvement would move Ailsa up to 37th.

In order to gain a place in the female top 50 ranking the time to beat is 40.70 seconds, set by Nicola Sneddon at Glenrothes in May 1998.

In the male rankings there are four current squad members. Mark Scott is the highest ranked at 21st position. His time of 32.80 seconds was set at the 1st round of the East District Age Group Championships in January this year. A 0.41 second improvement would get him into the teens.
The second ranked swimmer is Steven Pate with a time of 34.44 seconds, again set at the East District Age Groups in January and that puts Steven in 31st place.
Next is Ben Lewis in 41st place with a time of 36.02 seconds set at the Fife League in March 2020.
The final top 50 place, for a current swimmer, goes to Blair Wardlaw in 46th place with a time of 36.48 seconds, again set at the Fife league in March 2020.

The top ranking is one of the older club records at 29.23 seconds and was set by Gary Watson, in Bonn, in February 1986 where he was part of a GB Junior Team.
Perhaps this may also explain the gap between the top ranking and the 50th ranking for the males as Gary’s time is just over a second faster than the 2nd ranked swimmer.

To make a top 50 male ranking the time to beat is 36.65 seconds set by Euan Pate at the Fife Championships in November 2019.

It should be recognised that, given the standard of swimmer in Fins CSC over the past 42 years, to make it to a top 50 ranking is an achievement in itself, especially in the shorter distances.

‘Labore et Scientia’ – through hard work and understanding