Inverclyde Masters, Greenock - 11-12 September 2009
At the recent Inverclyde Masters Swimming Meet, held at the Waterside Leisure Centre, Greenock, Jan Price swam an extremely busy schedule of 13 events. Representing South Mainland, Jan was one of a very small number of women competing in the 50-54 age band.
As such, placings were fairly irrelevant, while more significant was the target of matching times she swam in the competition when she previously took part in 2007. Her first event was the 800metres freestyle on the Friday evening. Pacing was excellent throughout, and with enough energy left to finish with a fast final 50 metres, she touched in 12.13.11, a new personal best time and a chunky 10 seconds faster than in 2007.
Saturday’s programme started at 9am with the 200m freestyle, which resulted in a 5 second PB. For the rest of the day it was one race after another, a mixture of 50m and 100m races in each stroke plus 200m breaststroke and Jan’s favourite event the 200m Individual Medley which she swam close to her PB time and 4 seconds faster than 2 years ago.
With little recovery time between races, some events were particularly tough going; the last length of the 100m butterfly was a near death experience and her one time strongest event, the 200m breaststroke was swam in survival mode. By 5pm even the normally easy 100m IM, the very last event, was unusually painful!
Despite this, and although no more personal best times were achieved during the day another 4 races; 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle resulted in times a touch faster than 2007.
Bridge of Don September Splash and Cults Otter Meets - 5-6 September 2009
Nine young swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club participated in two recent competitions in Aberdeen. At the Bridge of Don September Splash, all competed in at least one event and amongst them achieved 17 personal best times.
In the Open 100m Individual Medley eldest of the girls, Sarah Keay (13) took 3 seconds off her PB with a 1.21.82 and finished 5th. Competing in the 13/14 year age group she gained higher place results with bronze for both the 100m backstroke with a 1.24.36 PB and the 100m butterfly. In a tremendous race she won the 100m freestyle in 1.09.77.
Vhairi Davies (11) produced three excellent PBs with a 1.35.03 in the Open 100m IM, and in the 11/12 year girls age group she swam 1.53.76 in 100m breaststroke, and 1.26.02 in 100m freestyle. Morven Davies (12) swam just outside her best with 1.24.69 in the 100m freestyle.
The youngest of the Davies sisters, eight year old Erraid had a very successful day, swimming in the 8-10 years age group. She won the 100m freestyle in 1.26.10, and came 3rd in 100m butterfly with an excellent time for her age 1.50.89. She also improved her 100m breaststroke time by 4 seconds.
Eldest of the boys, 13 year old Karl Eldridge, had a very good day, producing PBs in all of his 4 races. In the Open 100m Individual Medley he came 13th in 1.22.22. In the 13/14 age group, he came 5th in the 100m butterfly in 1.28.80, and took half a second off his 100m freestyle with 1.12.36. His best result came with a huge 5 second improvement in 100m breaststroke in 1.30.16 and a fourth place finish.
James Morris (11) also swam the Open 100m IM and gained a PB with 1.33.06. In the 11/12 age group he came 5th in the 100m breaststroke and was thrilled with a silver place in the 100m butterfly.
Three other South Mainland boys competed in the Open 100m IM, and all had a PB, Eddie Price (10) swam 1.30.44, Darin Eldridge (12) swam 1.23.00, and Donnie Price (13) with a 1.14.17 finished 4th out of 48 swimmers.
Having only one swim on the Saturday, this threesome had a far more demanding Sunday, each having qualified for all 6 races in the Cults Otter Bibby Challenge, at Northfield Pool. First in the pool was Eddie in the 400m freestyle, which he swam well and achieved 1st place in the 8-10 age group. In the 200m Individual Medley he equalled his PB and came second, but saved his best for his last race of the day when he won the100m freestyle and lowered his time by a second to 1.14.82, a new Shetland 10 year and under age group record.
Darin gained a 3 second PB in the 400m freestyle with a 5.17.14, and took a fraction of a second off his 100m backstroke in 1.24.56. He had 4 more good swims, all touching within a second of PBs. Donnie, although not on his best form on the day, still managed to pull off times close to his PBs. James Morris had one swim at the meet, the 100m freestyle and took a second off his PB finishing in 1.16.84.
One of the girls, Erraid competed at Sunday’s meet. As youngest girl competitor in the 8-10 year age group, took 2 seconds off her 100m backstroke PB for a 1.41.87 and finished her weekend with a good 100m freestyle.
South Mainland Asc would like to thank the following for their support; Mainlands, Freefield Pharmacy, Broonies Taing Pier Trust , Shetland Office Supplies, Dunrossness Community Council and NorthLink Ferries.
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.
InCAS Distance Meet, Glenrothes - June 2009
Swimmers representing three Shetland clubs competed at the InCAS Distance Meet held in Glenrothes where medals and awards were presented to the top 6 swimmers in each event.
For South Mainland ASC brothers Donnie & Eddie Price it was a very successful meet. The weekend provided older brother Donnie with his last chance to break Shetland Records in the 11/12 year age group before his 13th birthday at the end of the month and he achieved this in 5 out of 7 races, and won medals in all but 1 event.
On day 1 of the competition, in the 1500 metre freestyle, he smashed his own PB and Shetland record and set a meet record with a gold winning time of 18.16.53. With very little time to recover from the 1500m, 20 minutes later he swam the 200m Individual Medley in a time just outside his best. Earlier in the day he had taken off 6 seconds from his 200m breaststroke PB and finished 4th in 2.59.84, and another DRP qualifying time.
Sunday’s first race for Donnie was the 200m freestyle and once again he achieved a PB finishing in 2.15.28 to take silver. In the 400m IM he improved his PB by a chunky 12 seconds, finishing in 5.34.48 and in 6th place. In his final race, the 400m freestyle, Donnie once again had an outstanding race, lowered his Shetland age group record time to 4.41.43, and again finished in silver position.
10 year old Eddie had a tremendous weekend too, starting with the 200m breaststroke where he knocked 13 seconds off his entry time with a 3.36.53 which earned him 2nd place. Seeded only as reserve in the 200m IM he was delighted to be given the chance to compete. With a superb swim through all four strokes, he finished in 4th place in 3.12.57, a 10second PB and a clear 2 seconds inside the DRP target time.
The second day of competition resulted in Eddie breaking Shetland records in the 10 years and under age group in all three of his events. In a brilliant race in the 200m freestyle he lowered his previously set record to 2.40.15 and gained a bronze medal. In his next race, the 200m backstroke, he swam a very well-paced race finishing in a time of 3.03.59. Finally in the 400m freestyle, he swam a phenomenal 38 seconds faster than his entry time producing a 5.32.59 and took a very well deserved 3rd place. Eddie has now DRP qualifying times for 200m freestyle, 200m backstroke, 200m IM and 400m freestyle.
Inverness Graded Meet - May 2009
South Mainland’s young swimmers brought home a number of medals, speeding tickets and personal best times (pbs) from the Inverness Graded Meet this weekend.
For the boys 10years & under were Edward Oldbury, Christopher Byrne-McCombie, Seumas MacKay & Lewis Tait. Edward had a fabulous start to the meet with a Speeding Ticket in the 50m freestyle (39.62s), followed by a Gold medal in 50m backstroke, a Bronze in 50m butterfly and a superb 12s pb in 100IM. Christopher swam extremely well to take Silver in 50m butterfly (54.01) and had great pbs in 100IM and 50m breaststroke.
The 2 youngest South Mainland swimmers Seumas & Lewis, both 8years, had some great pbs in 50m backstroke & breaststroke with Seumas taking 17s off his breaststroke time and Lewis improving by 5s in backstroke. In 50m freestyle, Seumas again achieved a pb time (45.62) All the boys completed their day by winning Silver in the freestyle relay.
In the girls 10yrs & under events ,9yr old Rachel Keay had a excellent swim in 50m freestyle to take Silver (40.94s). She also had some super pbs in 100IM & 50m breaststroke.
Harriet Bell & Morven Davies, both 12yrs, competed in the 11-12yr age group. In their first event, 100m backstroke, Morven gained a terrific 4th place & Harriet reduced her pb by a superb 12s. In 100m
freestyle, both swam well to get new pbs, with Morven getting a Speeding Ticket for her efforts (1.22.60). Harriet achieved her highest position (6th) in 100m breaststroke and another pb swim in 100IM.
South Mainland ASC would like to thank NorthLink Ferries and Mainlands for their support.
Scottish National Masters Championships, Scotstoun, Glasgow - April 2009
All colours of medals were won by two Shetland swimmers last weekend at the Scottish National Masters Championships at Scotstoun, Glasgow. Competitors aged 18 – 80 from clubs throughout the UK and Ireland and the now regular visitors from Catalonia, Spain were attracted to this top event for adult swimmers.
On Friday evening, Lynsey Henderson, 26, of Lerwick Amateur Swimming Club gained her first silver medal in the women’s 25-29 years 100m freestyle in a time just outside her entry time. She then came 4th in the 50m butterfly and finished the evening with another silver in the 100m individual medley.
Saturday morning started with the 200m IM where Lynsey swam a good time for the bronze. Her next race, the 200m freestyle provided a tough race with seven competitors in her age group seeded in the fastest heat. Onlookers witnessed a fantastic race, with all swimmers turning together after the first 50m. At 100m, little seperated the three leaders with not one falling behind during the second half. Once again Lynsey was awarded the silver, but was the fastest British swimmer, having narrowly been beaten by a Catalonian.
The afternoon session began with the 400m freestyle, a mid-distance event that has always been one of Lynsey’s strengths. Similar to the earlier 200m, the fastest heat proved to be a very closely fought race. Lynsey went out quickly for the first 100m, maintained a fast pace for the next 200m and really pushed hard in the final 100m. Touching in an excellent time of 5.11.32, Lynsey gained her final medal of the competition – another silver, and with gold going to a swimmer from the top London Masters club Otter, once again she was the fastest Scot. In her final swim of the day, the 50m freestyle, the favourite event for masters, Lynsey came 5th. Overall in her age group, on points total, Lynsey came third out of 18.
Representing South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club, 50 year old Jan Price raced 11 events over 3 sessions. Having reached an age where PBs are tougher to achieve, matching entry times based on last year’s times was her aim. Friday evening’s four races were all just a touch slower than targets but still resulted in silvers for 100m breaststroke and 50m butterfly and bronzes for 100m freestyle and 100m individual medley.The next day began very well with a superb race in the 200m IM. For the first 50m butterfly, Jan was close to her previous evening’s sprint time. Then having dropped a little in the backstroke she pulled back on swimmers on either side during the breaststroke and closed the gap on the first length of freestyle. A determined spurt in the final length resulted in a time of 3.14.59 just inside her entry time and first place in her age group. In the 50m backstroke she came third and a second gold of the morning was gained in the 200m breaststroke.
After a relaxed lunch outside in the sunshine, Jan’s next challenge came in the 400m freestyle, the first event in the final session. She paced it well throughout with a strong finish and was delighted with a time only a second slower than her personal best which earned her the bronze.
By mid afternoon, like many swimmers, Jan was looking forward to finishing her events. A time equalling her entry time in the 50m breaststroke resulted in silver, followed by a 4thin her first ever 100m backstroke. 24 hours after arriving at the pool, she finished off her competition with bronze place in 50m freestyle, just a second outside her best. Overall in the women’s 50-54 age group, her points total earned her second place out of 15.
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