Scottish National Age Group Championships, Tollcross, Glasgow, 8-11 April 2010

Donnie Price, representing South Mainland ASC, swam 11 events in the boys’ 13 year age group and had a most successful championships, returning home with a gold medal as Scottish Champion in one event and silver and bronze medals for a further two.

On day one of the 4 day competition, he headed off with a great start. Qualifying for the first time for the 200m butterfly, he managed to knock 10 seconds off his long course time to finish in 17th place with a time of 2.47.99.

This was followed by a Pb in the heats of the 100m freestyle. His time of 1.01.84 gave him 8th ranked place for the final, which he then improved to 5th when again he had a Pb to bring his time down to1.01.20.

Taking place in the afternoon of the first day was the event at the other end of the range; the 1500m freestyle. Donnie had an amazing swim and, with an 18.08.65, won the event and was awarded the Scottish Age Group Champion title, repeating last year’s success.

Day two brought more chances to gain long course Pbs, and again started very well with an excellent 100m butterfly. His time of 1.10.98 gave him 13th place. In the afternoon it was the 400m IM. A tough race in a 50m pool, this was Donnie’s first ever experience of the event long course and he was extremely pleased to swim a 5.28.89 and achieve 12th place.

 

The third day started with Donnie producing another Pb in the 100m breaststroke; with a 1.23.60 he came 12th, a reserve for the final. In the 200m IM he had another well paced swim to finish in 2.34.96, once more a Pb and 13th place. In the afternoon session, Donnie raced a superb 400m freestyle, and with a time of 4.37.80 won his second medal, the bronze.

 

Sunday, the last day of the competition, started with the 200m freestyle. Aiming to make the final, Donnie produced a Pb time of 2.13.67, comfortably gaining a place in the final. In next race, the 200 breaststroke, he managed to meet his target of breaking 3 minutes. However he was disappointed that his time of 2.59.49 meant 12th place, again reserve finalist, knowing that only half a second faster would have given him the desired place.

In the afternoon session, Donnie faced his last distance event, the 800m freestyle. In a heat with 14 year olds pushing him all the way, he finished well inside his entry time in a 9.28.63. At that point he was fastest 13year old and with only 2 more swimmers his age left to swim, he was guaranteed a medal. Only the outstanding Jordan Hughes of North Ayrshire finished faster, so Donnie won silver, bringing his medal tally to one of each colour.

One last race remained in the evening’s finals. Although he had made a Pb in the morning heats, Donnie knew that with slightly different pacing he could better his time. He had a brilliant race and improved his time by a further 1.5 seconds to finish in 5th place with a 2.12.08.

Dyce Hunting Trophy Meet, Westhill, March 2010

South Mainland ASC took nine of their swimmers to compete in the Dyce Hunting Trophy Meet at Westhill last weekend giving them all the opportunity to race in 100m events in their age groups. A great number of personal best times were achieved and two of the team brought home medals.

Scott Riise, 11, swimming in his first competition south for a year, was last of the South Mainland swimmers to race in the morning, but was first to win a medal, by taking bronze in the boys 10/11 years 100m backstroke with an excellent 5 seconds pb of 1.28.12. In the afternoon session, he then won gold in the 100m freestyle with another pb time of 1.18.09 and finished his successful day with the 100m breaststroke where he equalled his pb.

James Morris,12, swam all 4 races in the 12/13 year age group, but started his busy day competing in the Open 200m IM, which he swam extremely well for a 7 second pb of 3.03.84. His best swim of the day was in the 100m backstroke where he had a brilliant 3 second improvement on his time, finishing in silver place with a 1.21.37. James also gained pbs in the 100m freestyle with 1.15.06 and the breaststroke with 1.39.09. His time for the butterfly was on pb pace.

Jason Riise, 13, also swam 5 events. In the open 100m IM he had a pb of 1.28.32. In his age group events he managed a further 3 pbs which included a tremendous 6 seconds off his entry time with a 1.13.40 for the freestyle and a most impressive 7 second improvement in breaststroke with a 1.31.46. In both these events he came 5th.

Lucy Morris, 12, swam two events in the 12/13 year girls. Her backstroke was on her pb and she had a super 5 second pb in freestyle with a time of 1.21.60.

Four of the South Mainland girls competed in the 10/11 year age group. Vhairi Davies, 11 had a chunky 5 seconds pb for a 1.30.83 in the backstroke where she came 4th, only missing out on a medal by less than a second. Her breaststroke was also a good 3 second pb with 1.50.48, and both freestyle and butterfly finished on entry times.

Curstaidh Mackay, 11, got off to a fantastic start to the day in the 100m butterfly. Seeded only as reserve, but given the chance to swim, she dropped her entry time by 13 seconds to finish in a 1.48.43. In backstroke and breaststroke, her times were just outside entry times, but another fabulous pb was achieved by knocking almost 7 seconds off her freestyle with a 1.20.07.

Cara Steven, 11, competing south for the first time in two years, also had a good pb in her freestyle, improving on her time by 3 seconds for a 1.25.48, with her swims in breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly close to entry times.

Ten year old Sophie Morris, swimming for the first time south at this level of competition, had brilliant swims in all three of her races. Her butterfly resulted in an excellent 1.37.01 to finish well up the rankings in 6th place. In backstroke, too, she finished 6th with a pb of 1.32.40 and then finished off her day with a massive 6 second pb in the freestyle for a 1.21.48.

Youngest of the SMASC swimmers was Erraid Davies, 9, who swam two races in the 9 year age group. Her breaststroke showed good improvement with a 3 second pb for a 1.53.74 and a 5th place, and her backstroke was also swam well.

The club would like to thank Northlink and Mainlands for their support.

Shetland Sprints, 21 March 2010

Sunday 21st March was a very busy swimming day for nearly all South Mainland swimmers age 11 and over, who took part in the Shetland Sprints at the Clickimin.

For several swimmers this was their first outing to the event, and along with those who have had more experience, had a very successful day, at the end of which at least 64 personal best times had been achieved by the team of 15.

In the boys age groups, South Mainland took two of the champion titles – Darin Eldridge, 12, in the 11/12 years, achieving 4 pbs while winning all five races, and Donnie Price,13, for the 13/14 age group, winning 4golds and 1 silver – all pbs.

Other medallists in individual races were;

• Eddie Price, 11, silver in fly, breaststroke, IM & bronze in free.

• James Morris, bronze in backstroke.

• Karl Eldridge, silver in breaststroke and bronze in fly, back & IM.

• Vhairi Davies, 11, bronze in backstroke.

• Kirsty Laurenson, 14, silver in breaststroke.

• Jan Price, 51, was also awarded for her efforts – bronze in each race – due to there only being 3 swimmers in the age group.

Every swimmer achieved something on the day – here’s a list, nowhere near complete, but a mention of some highlights;

• Curstaidh Mackay, 11, – a superb 9 second pb for IM & tremendous last leg of the relay.

• Cara Steven, 11, – 2 seconds off backstroke time and gigantic 24 seconds off her IM.

• Vhairi Davies, 11, – Bronze in backstroke with a good pb & 3 seconds improvement in fly.

• Lucy Morris, 12, – Breaststroke – brilliant 4 seconds pb, & 5 seconds for the IM

• Morven Davies, 13, - Demonstrating she can swim fly with an 8 second pb, & 7 sec pb for her IM.

• Kirsty Laurenson, 14, – Making pbs only weeks after recent competition & winning silver in her least favourite stroke, breaststroke

• Jan Price, 51, - getting a 0.12 pb for Breaststroke and not getting caught by big Callum in the freestyle relay.

• Eddie Price, 11, - 7 second pb in IM. Runner up in age group. Fabulous freestyle leg of medley relay.

• Scott Riise, 11, - Pbs in 4 out of 5 races.

• James Morris, 12, - Pb every time he hit the water. Bronze in backstroke.

• Philip Hilditch, 12, - Having a super first time with immense pbs such as 16seconds off breaststroke.

• Darin Eldrige, 12, - Getting the champion title – what else is there?!

• Jason Riise, 13, - Five out of five for pbs – with a 4 second pb for IM

• Donnie Price, 13, - Swimming in lane 6 for each event against the big guys. 5/5 pbs including 4 seconds off IM.

• Karl Eldridge, 14, - Pbs all day long – fantastic drop in time for breaststroke.

• Nathan Hilditch, 15, - Incredible improvements in all strokes – whacking 16 seconds off backstroke, 13 off breaststroke and 10second in free for a very respectable time.

Many of the swimmers also took part in the relays, and for some this was the first time in the Clickimin, having only done them at Beta League. The boys 13 & under had two terrific races against Delting but were just out-touched by the tiniest of margins in both events. In the girls 13& under, South Mainland was a young team with more 11 year olds than the stronger teams from other clubs, but to their credit and a marvellous last leg by Curstaidh Mackay, came 3rd in the freestyle relay.

For the first time, the gala had mixed relays for the 14 years and over, and the SMASC team comprised of ALL of their swimmers in this age group – Kirsty, Karl, Nathan and Jan were up against Delting and Lerwick who both had several Shetland record holders past and present in their teams. In both the races, Jan, as the 3rd swimmer had the additional challenge of trying hard to ensure that we wouldn’t be lapped –and succeeded – just! The next challenge was all trying to fit on the podium to collect the medals.

Forres Meet, 13-14 March 2010

Two South Mainland ASC swimmers attended the Forres Meet.

Darin Eldridge, 12, had a successful weekend achieving 3 personal bests and winning 2 bronze medals. His first medal was in the 100m breaststroke where he took almost a second off his pb with a time of 1:31.06. Then in the freestyle he swam a closely fought race to come 3rd equal in a time just a touch away from a pb. A time of 1.20.66 was a good 2 seconds pb for his 100m backstroke and another pb came in the IM where he lowered his time to 1:20.66. In the 100m butterfly Darin swam close to entry time.

Karl Eldridge, 14, also had a very good weekend gaining pbs in 4 out of 5 races. In the 100m butterfly he took an excellent 4 seconds off his entry time with a 1:22.83. In the breaststroke he finished with a time of 1:26.58, a 2 sec pb. Again in the 100 IM he got a 2 sec pb with a 1:19.09. In the 100m backstroke he got a 1:18.67 giving him a 2 sec pb and in the 100 free he swam a 1:08.98, only just outside his pb.

North District Age Group Championships, Inverness, 6-7 March 2010

South Mainland ASC was represented at the North District Age Group championships by brothers Donnie and Eddie Price. Donnie, 13, swam 11 events in the 13/14 age group, and successfully broke pb times for every event. His weekend started off with a super 6 second improvement in his 200m butterfly with a 2.44.00. In his next race, the 100m freestyle, he crept nearer to breaking the 1 minute mark with a 1.00.79.

After another pb in the 200m IM, Donnie then produced an excellent 4.33.58 for the 400m freestyle and sixth place, the fastest of the 13 year old boys. The afternoon’s results were a satisfying 1.10.12 for his 100m butterfly followed shortly later with a 2.56.88 for the 200m breaststroke. In the last session of the day, Donnie had a terrific swim in the 1500m freestyle. Aiming to break 18 minutes he smashed 24 seconds off his entry time for a 17.43.12, which earned him the silver medal.

Sunday’s events started with a 2.10.63 for the 200m freestyle. Then in the 800m freestyle he swam very well to finish in 9.23.77, only missing out on third place by a mere 0.19 seconds. Donnie’s last session produced a pb in the 100m breaststroke and a chunky 7 seconds improvement in his time for the 400m IM.

Eddie, 11, swam 3 events in the 10-12 year age group. His competition got off to a great start by taking 3 seconds off his 100m freestyle time with a 1.08.97, and gained him a place in the final, where he moved up one place to finish 7th. Eddie was also 7th in the 200m freestyle where he swam 7 seconds faster than his entry time for a new pb of 2.27.51. In the 200 breaststroke Eddie had another tremendous swim with a 3.18.13 finishing in 5th place.