We start the second half of events with the 50m Backstroke. There have been some changes to the rules relating to all the backstroke events including the use of a backstroke ledge at the start and a major change, some years ago, that saw the introduction of the 15 metre rule whereby the swimmer’s head had to break the surface of the water before the 15 metre point after the start and after each turn. Before this was introduced it was not uncommon, in a 50m event, to see the more competent swimmers not breaking the surface of the water, except at the turn, for about one and a half lengths of the pool. This was considered to give the swimmer an advantage, especially if they had a strong kick and good streamlining, but that said both the male and female club records were achieved after the 15 metre rule was introduce.
The 50m backstroke club record for the girls was set by Caitlyn Dodds at the Scottish National Short Course Championships in December 2017 where she recorded a time of 30.42 seconds. There is just one swimmer from the current squads in the female top 50 rankings and that is Erin Taylor, whose time of 32.86 seconds set at the Scottish East District Age Group Championships in November 2019 puts her at 13th place. A 0.5 second PB would move Erin up 4 places to 9th. Those swimmers aspiring to move into the rankings will have to beat the time of 36.64 seconds which was set at the FIRST (Falkirk Integrated Regional Swim Team) meet in January 2017 by Julie Davidson.
The club record for the boys was set by Jordan Lamb at the Scottish National Short Course Championships in December 2013 where he recorded a time of 26.46 seconds. There are three swimmers from the current squads in the male top 50 rankings. With a time of 31.03 seconds, the current top ranked swimmer is Blair Wardlaw, in 25th place. Not too far behind in 29th place is Ben Lewis with a time of 31.20 seconds and the third swimmer is Mark Scott in 50th place with a time of 33.13 seconds. All three times were set at the Fife Championships in November 2019. A 0.5 second improvement from the swimmers would see Blair move to 17th
place,
Ben to 18th and Mark to 45th. Those swimmers aspiring to move into the rankings will have to beat Mark’s time of 33.13 seconds
‘Labore et Scientia’ – through hard work and understanding