Finnley McDonald was Fins’ sole representative at the SWL Open Meet, held at the Excite Centre, Bathgate, on 13/14 January 2024.
Finnley, swimming in the 13/14 years boys, had a very good weekend, where he contested a total of ten events over the two days, with eight swims producing PBs, while he couldn’t have got much closer to making it ten out of ten, with his other two swims dropping short by 4 hundredths and 8 hundredths of a second in his 200m and 50m freestyle respectively.
Overall, his ten swims resulted in one 3rd, two 8th, two 9th, one 10th, one 11th, two 12th, and one 15th placings.
Finnley’s 3rd place came in his 400m freestyle, his two 8th places were in the 100m freestyle and 50m breaststroke, the two 9th places came in the 200m individual medley and 100m breaststroke, 10th place – 100m backstroke, 11th – 50m backstroke, 12th – both the 50m and 200m freestyle, and 15th – 50m butterfly.
His top three PBs came in the 200m individual medley where he reduced his previous best by 4.87 seconds, the 400m freestyle which he improved by 3.64seconds, and his 100m breaststroke by 2.69 seconds.
None of Finnley’s swims make the Fins’ overall top 50 rankings but he is certainly not too far away, with the closest events being his 50m freestyle at 1.35 seconds, the 50m backstroke at 1.54 seconds and the 50m breaststroke at 2.02 seconds away from 50th place.
Photo by Yvonne Pate
Ken White
Club Press Officer