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.
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