Fins Graded Meet, Kircaldy - 22-23 August 2009

Three members of South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club competed at the two day Fins Graded Meet in Kirkcaldy, Fife on 22nd and 23rd August 2009.

Erraid (8), Vhairi (11) and Morven (12) Davies were keen to swim at a meet where all three could participate. The gala was a huge success and a lot of fun; between them they qualified for 23 events and achieved 13 personal best times.

Vhairi swam all 9 events in her age group (11 years and under), which was a tough schedule. On the first morning, Vhairi swam in the 50m butterfly (pb 44.29), 100 IM (pb 1.38.50) and 50m backstroke (pb 43.72). She was shocked to find herself in the 50m backstroke final! It was a highly charged event but she raced through the water to come 4th overall (31 girls swam in this event) lowering her earlier pb to a superb 42.48.

In the afternoon Vhairi swam one of her favourite events, the 100m butterfly. Touching in 1.45.11, she once more qualified for the final, which resulted in another excellent pb of 1.42.53 and 6th place. After her successes on Saturday, Vhairi went on to gain further pbs in all of Sunday’s events. Her best result was in the 100m freestyle where she lowered her entry time by 6 seconds to get a new pb of 1.24.69. To finish her perfect tally of pbs her other times were in the 100m back (1.35.49), 50m free (38.71) and 100m breaststroke (1.57.25).

Erraid qualified for 7 events in the 11years and under age group and although reserve for the 100m breaststroke, was able to swim, improving her entry time by 4 seconds for a pb of 2.04.28. Erraid also got a pb in the 100m free; 1.30.16 a 3 seconds improvement. She swam close to her previous pb times in 50m free (39.62), 100m backstroke (1.44.75), 50m breaststroke (58.06) and 50m backstroke (47.26).

Morven was delighted to qualify for five events at the meet and like her youngest sister had held a reserve position for an event, the 50m freestyle. Also, like her sister, being able to swim it allowed her to obtain a pb time of 38.91. In the 50m backstroke (47.11) and the 50m breaststroke (47.13) Morven swam just outside her pb times, which was a good, result for her in the 12-13 year old age group. Morven also swam in the 100m breaststroke, 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke.

Attending the Fins Gala in Fife was a memorable event where all three sisters achieved significantly and were delighted at their own and each other’s success. They now look forward to further training and to have new opportunities to compete both in Shetland and south.