Scottish Swimming’s Grand Prix Open Meet Series was launched last weekend, and taking part in the inaugural meet at East Kilbride in the West District round was 15 year old Donnie Price, representing South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club. The recently refurbished Dollan Aqua Centre, the oldest 50 metre ‘long course’ pool in Scotland, originally built in imperial measure 55 yards, attracted a good number of top swimmers, many who, like Donnie, are in one of the Scottish Squads. He lined up against other competitors from the Youth Development Squad in each of his 6 races. Saturday morning started off with a good swim in the 100m breaststroke where he produced a long course PB and later on matched this in the 100m freestyle.
After an unusually quiet day for Donnie, he had a more typical Sunday with 4 races in the morning session. In his first event, the 400m freestyle, he demonstrated very good pacing and another long course PB. Finishing 7th overall meant he had achieved a place in the evening’s ‘B’ final. First of all he had to compete in the 200m breaststroke, the 200m freestyle and 200m IM, all resulting in times equalling PBs. At the beginning of the evening finals, it was learnt that due to a swimmer withdrawing Donnie would now have a place in the ‘A’ final and hence he found himself lined up with the top batch of older and bigger swimmers. He produced another good swim with a time just a touch outside his heat time and finished, much as expected in 6th place.
Andrea Strachan, Amy Harper & Donnie Price were in action at Scottish Swimming’s Grand Prix Open Meet Series which was launched last weekend, with the inaugural meet at East Kilbride in the West District. The recently refurbished Dollan Aqua Centre, the oldest 50 metre ‘long course’ pool in Scotland, originally built in imperial measure 55 yards, attracted a good number of top swimmers, many of whom, like the Shetland trio are in Scottish National Squads.
Always a difficult time of year to compete after the excesses of Christmas and disruption to training, the girls managed to find their form. Andrea took Gold in the 50m Breaststroke and Silver in the 100m Breaststroke and finished a respectable 4th in the final of the 50m Freestyle. Amy had to share the podium with Sarah Hamilton of South Aberdeenshire as they finished first equal in the 50m freestyle. And in the 100m freestyle Amy claimed the Bronze. Both girls would like to express their thanks to the Shetland Recreational Trust and the staff of the Scalloway Pool for opening for four days between Christmas and New Year to keep the disruption to their training to a minimum.
In each of his 6 races, 15 year old Donnie Price, representing South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club lined up against competitors which included members of the Youth Development Squad that he had trained with in Stirling between Xmas and New Year. Saturday morning started off with a good swim in the 100m breaststroke where he produced a long course PB and later on matched this in the 100m freestyle. After an unusually quiet day for Donnie, he had a more typical Sunday with 4 races in the morning session. In his first event, the 400m freestyle, he demonstrated very good pacing and another long course PB. Finishing 7th overall meant he had achieved a place in the evening’s ‘B’ final. First of all he had to compete in the 200m breaststroke, the 200m freestyle and 200m IM, all resulting in times equalling PBs. At the beginning of the evening finals, it was learnt that due to a swimmer withdrawing Donnie would now have a place in the ‘A’ final and hence he found himself lined up with the top batch of older and bigger swimmers. He produced another good swim with a time just a touch outside his heat time and finished, much as expected in 6th place.
Scottish National Short Course Championships, 15-18 December 2011, Inverness
Representing South Mainland ASC, Donnie Price, 15, competed in twelve events and managed to achieve eight PBs and four top ten places. Having spent the customary 20 hour journey from Shetland to Inverness, Donnie hit the water early Thursday evening for the Men’s 1500m freestyle. In a superbly paced swim he demolished his previous best time with a 27 second improvement for a 16.41.57 and finished in 9th place.
The following day, in the 200m freestyle Donnie hit his target and broke the 2 minutes for the first time with 1.59.87. He then equalled his PB in the 200m backstroke and ended the session with a further PB in the 100m breaststroke with a 1.11.69.
In Friday afternoon’s session Donnie had an extremely good swim in the Boys 15 and under 400m freestyle, and smashed his entry time by six seconds to finish in 6th place with 4.13.88. Following this, he achieved another good PB in the 400m IM.
Saturday morning started with being on his PB in the 200m butterfly. Then in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke he once more broke a PB with a 2.33.58 finishing well up the field in 19th place out of 50. In the afternoon session, he gained 8th place in the Boys’ 1500m freestyle.
On the final day of the championships, Donnie continued to produce PBs. Having only been seeded as reserve in the 200m IM, a 4 second improvement in his entry time resulted in a 2.15.82, moving him up from 46th to 31st position. He then equalled his time for the 100m backstroke and finished off with a final PB of 1.04.12 and 10th place in the 100m IM.
North District Age Group Meet, Inverness, 3-4 December 2011
Seven swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club competed at the North District Age Group Meet and each successfully managed to produce personal best times.
The outstanding South Mainland swimmer of the weekend was 11 year old Sophie Morris who had qualified for all eleven events and managed to gain PBs in all but one race. Significant improvements in times came in all strokes and all distances and when combining all strokes in the individual medleys achieved excellent results. In the 400 IM she improved her time by 8 seconds but it was in the 200m IM that Sophie really shone.
Breaking her entry time by 8 seconds earned her a place in the final for 10/11 year age group, where, as her last race over a very busy two days, she broke her earlier time by a further 2 seconds to finish in a 2.52.97 just outside medal position in 4th place.
In the same age group, Curstaidh Mackay, 12, competed in 10 events and gained good PBs in 6 events. Having broken her previous best times in breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly she just missed PBs in the 100m and 200m freestyle. However, she tackled the longer 400m freestyle with great determination and swam it extremely well to knock a whopping 13 seconds off her time for a 5.30.49. Despite the 400m being the last race, two of the South Mainland boys also demonstrated fantastic swims. Darin Eldridge, 14, swimming for the last time at the competition, took 14 seconds off his time and went under 5 minutes for the first time with a 4.58.70. Just a few lanes away he was having a close tussle with James Morris, 13, who fought all the way to finish in 5.01.70, a 12 second PB. Darin competed in 10 events and successfully made seven PBs. After finishing his 100m freestyle in a PB of 1.05.67 he was given some very useful feedback from Ally Whike, Performance Director of Scottish Swimming who had watched the race, yet another where more than one South Mainland boy was seeded in the same heat. Again James was in the mix and equalled his PB. Swimming 9 events he gained 6 PBs in total and some of his best improvements were in the 200m backstroke with a 2.40.91, 200m breaststroke with a 3.14.29 and 200m freestyle with a 2.24.12.
For Philip Hilditch, 14, it was his first visit to the 8 lane pool in Inverness and the biggest competition he has experienced. He coped very well with the demands of a two day meet and came away with a well deserved tally of 5 PBs out of 7 events. He produced a substantial 10 second PB in the tough 400m IM with a 6.07.25 and had an excellent 2 second PB in the 100m freestyle with a 1.08.33, in the same heat as Darin, James and Scott Riise. Like Philip, Scott, 13 was experiencing the competition for the first time. His 100m freestyle was faster than his entry time and equalled a very recent PB. In the 200m freestyle his time improved by 5 seconds and he made an even better 7 second PB in the 200m backstroke, breaking the 3 minute barrier for the first occasion with a 2.57.76.
Youngest of the South Mainland boys, Eddie Price, 13, had qualified for all the events which provided a variety of challenges and results. Many of his swims were within a second of his PB times, but like his team mates managed to achieve PBs. His 200 breaststroke reflected recent improvement in his shorter breaststroke events with a 5 second PB for a 3.03.01 and he chipped a second off his 200m butterfly time where he finished 10th in the 13/14 age group. In the 200m IM his heat time gained him a place in the final of the 13year olds where he finished 7th.
South Mainland ASC would like to thank NorthLink Ferries and Freefield Pharmacy for their support.
Dunedin Challenge, Bridge of Don September Splash, Cults Otter Bibby Offshore Challenge - 3-4 September 2011
Swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club competed in three competitions last weekend in two different locations. Fifteen year olds Kirsty Laurenson, Sarah Keay, Karl Eldridge and Donnie Price travelled to Glenrothes to compete in the Dunedin Challenge, a competition that provided a broad range of races.
Donnie had opted for 10 events and had excellent swims producing 9 personal best times (pbs) in total and gained 7 gold and 3 silver medals, making him the outstanding swimmer in the 15 and over age group. The times Donnie was most pleased with were his 100m and 200m breaststroke; a 1.12.68 and a 2.34.74 and a terrific 5 seconds improvement in his 200m backstroke with a 2.17.27.
Karl was kept very busy swimming 13 races overall including 50m sprints in addition to the 100s and 200s. He had several good swims but his most successful were a super 4 second pb in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1.14.95 and a 2.36.61 in the 200m backstroke. In the 100m butterfly he once again produced a pb with a 1.19.28. Kirsty also raced a mix of all the distances. Close to entry times in her events, she managed to produce pb times in the 100m breaststroke when she took off 2 seconds for a 1.34.00 and in the 50m freestyle a half second improvement resulted in a 31.10. Her highest place was 6th in the 50m backstroke just a fraction of a second behind team mate Sarah who finished 5th on her pb with a time of 37.88. Sarah also came 5th in the 50m breaststroke, again very close to her entry time.
Meanwhile in Aberdeen, 8 younger swimmers swam at the Bridge of Don September Splash and the Cults Otters Bibby Offshore Challenge. Over the two days there was a mixture of highs and lows, disappointments and successes, but each and every swimmer achieved at least one good personal best time and three of the team managed to win medals.
The highlight for Darin Eldridge, 14, was winning the 100m breaststroke at the September Splash in a very good pb time of 1.27.68. He was closely followed by 13 year old James Morris whose superb 6 second improvement with a 1.29.86 earned him a well deserved silver place. Throughout the weekend, James consistently showed improvement, making pbs in 5 out of 6 events. Likewise, Philip Hilditch, 14, achieved pbs in all but one race at the Splash with a 3 second pb for a 1.28.21 in the 100m backstroke, and 4 seconds in breaststroke with a 1.34.36. Once more it was in the breaststroke where there was the biggest improvement when Scott Riise, 13, also improved his time for a 1.38.89. In addition, Scott gained pbs in the 100m IM and 100m freestyle. Last, but not least of the boys, Eddie Price, 12, swam all 6 events at the Cults Otter gala and was South Mainland’s only medallist for the day. He achieved pbs in breaststroke with a 1.28.58 and in the 200m IM with a 2.43.51 and in both came 2nd. Eddie also took silver place in the 100m freestyle and the 400m freestyle, making him overall runner up in his age group.
After putting in a good performance in the 100m IM, Cara Steven, 12, showed a huge improvement in her 100m butterfly. The following day she successfully smashed her entry time for her 100m breaststroke and with a 5 second pb time of 1.32.41 finished 6th. This also ranked her overall 10th in the 11/12 year age group. Curstaidh Mackay, 12, produced good swims and her highest place was a 4th in the 100m butterfly at the Splash. At Cults the following day after a well paced 400m freestyle finishing on her entry time she went on to gain her best time of the weekend with a pb time of 3.06.59 in the 200m IM.
Sophie Morris, 11, had 4 races at the Cults gala and produced two pbs. In the 100m butterfly, she took a second off her entry time with a 1.28.36, and in the closing event of the afternoon swam an excellent 1.11.73 in the 100m freestyle gaining 7th place.
South Mainland ASC would like to thank NorthLink Ferries, Mainlands, and Freefield Pharmacy for their support.
North District Open Championships - 4-5 June 2011
Representing South Mainland ASC, brothers Donnie and Eddie Price competed at the North District Open Championships at Westhill last weekend. 14 year old Donnie swam 12 events and gained several personal bests over the two days. His first PB came with a 4.20.31 in the Men’s 400m freestyle, a time just inside the qualifying mark for the National Youth Squad. It was also good enough to place him in reserve position for the final. Due to one swimmer withdrawing he then raced the final where, although unable to improve his time, he finished in 5th place, his best achievement of the competition. Donnie’s next highest place was in the 200m breaststroke, where equalling his entry time gave him eighth place. PBs were made in the 200m backstroke, one of the events that he will be swimming at the Island Games and in the remainder of the freestyle events; 50m, 100m and 200m.
Donnie had opted not to swim the two longer freestyle events at the competition, but brother Eddie, had entered the 800m and 1500m freestyle. The 12 year old, as the youngest and smallest swimmer in Saturday’s 800m freestyle, produced a very well paced swim, so was very disappointed to finish a second outside his best time. However, Eddie perked up in learning that as reserve he would get the chance to race the 1500m the following day. With his target of breaking 19 minutes, determined Eddie had a superb race, keeping up with a couple of older lads then overtaking one of them. After maintaining a good steady pace he finished strongly and with a final sprint achieved his goal by the narrowest of margins touching in 18.59.84.
Buckie Age Group Championships, 23-24 April 2011
Eleven year old Sophie Morris very successfully brought home two silver and two bronze medals from the Buckie Age Group Championships at the weekend. Competing in the 10/11 year age group, the South Mainland ASC youngster started her tremendous weekend by slicing over half a minute from her PB in the 400m freestyle with a fantastic time of 5.26.72 to take her first silver medal. Throughout a demanding schedule of ten races in the 2 day competition her excellent form never deteriorated when race after race she produced times faster than entry times. On the Saturday she improved her 100m backstroke by 3 seconds and her 200m freestyle by 14 seconds. Sunday morning started with Sophie breaking her target time in the 100m freestyle and with a superb 1.12.19 she won the bronze. In the last session of the weekend a very strong 400m IM gained her another silver with a time of 6.20.67, and shortly afterwards she smashed her 100m butterfly time to take the bronze and finished her day with a five second PB in her 200m backstroke. Not only was each of Sophie’s times a PB, but times produced in her 400s and 200s are within qualifying standard for Scottish Swimming’s District Regional Programme (DRP).
Also swimming in the same age group was 10 year old Erraid Davies, who competed in seven events. She successfully matched her entry time for the 400m freestyle which was followed by a very good 2 second PB in her backstroke for a 1.29.27. Two more PBs were gained in the 200m freestyle with a 2.53.10 and the 100m freestyle with a 1.20.41.
Vhairi Davies, 12, swam 6 events and gained PBs in the 100m backstroke with a 1.23.49 and in the 200m freestyle with a 2.47.78.
South Mainland had two 13 year old boys competing. James Morris raced in nine events and showed his greatest improvements in the 200m events. New PBs were achieved with a 2.31.95 in the freestyle and an excellent 8 seconds off his time in backstroke gave him a 2.47.62. His 100m backstroke went under the 1.20 for the first time with a 1.19.50. At only his second competition south, Philip Hilditch gained a PB in each of his three races. His 100m freestyle was a 1 second improvement from last month with a 1.11.07, while his 200m freestyle was a 2.33.50 and 200m breaststroke a 3.31.06.
Scottish Swimming Stroke Camp
Meanwhile, South Mainland’s Eddie Price,12, having taken part in last year’s DRP was participating in one of Scottish Swimming’s ‘Stroke Camps’at the National Swimming Academy in Stirling. Lead Coach, Rob Greenwood, one of the country’s top coaches instructed and inspired not only the 24 selected swimmers but provided valuable experience for accompanying club coaches. Eddie learned a great deal during the day, as did SMASC coach Jan Price.
Scottish Masters
Prior to attending the stroke camp, Jan had been competing at the Scottish Masters held at Tollcross, Glasgow. Over 3 sessions, she raced 9 events and was pleased to finish within a fraction of a second of her times from last year in many events. In her age group, 50-54 years, she achieved 2 bronze, 5 silver and 1 gold. Jan opted to substitute receiving medals for a donation per medal to this year’s nominated charity the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.
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