North District Age Group Championships, Inverness, 5/6 March 2011

Four weeks after swimming at Inverness, Donnie and Eddie Price were back in the pool representing South Mainland ASC at the North District Age Group Championships and the brothers had a tremendously successful weekend, producing a dozen PBs each, qualifying for every final and returning with handfuls of medals.

Competing in every event in the programme, Donnie, 14, started off with a superb 12 second PB in the 200m butterfly with a time of 2.24.44 and continued producing PBs one after the other, improving times in all but one event.

His first medal came on Saturday morning by winning the 400m freestyle and an excellent 200m breaststroke in a time of 2.38.32 earned him a silver in the afternoon. The evening session began with the 1500m freestyle, with Donnie winning his age group in a new Shetland Age Group record of 17.09.15.  With little recovery time he then had to cope with three close together finals, where resulting times, all slower than heats, perhaps  demonstrated just what  swimming a 1500m  takes out of a swimmer.

However, after good night’s rest, times were once again on the way down. Firstly, a PB of 1.06.05 in the 100m backstroke, gave him another Shetland Age Group record. This was followed by a bronze medal winning performance in the 200m freestyle. The morning ended with another distance event, the 800m freestyle earning Donnie his hat-trick of golds for the distance freestyle events. The 400 IM in the afternoon then gave Donnie his final medal of the championships with a silver. The evening session rounded off with a further two good swims in the finals bringing his total number of races to a demanding but successful eighteen.

Meanwhile, Eddie, 12, was collecting medals in all but two events giving him an amazing total of 5 silver and 5 bronze. He started off by achieving a Scottish National Age Group consideration time with a 1.05.47 in the 100m freestyle heat and then smashed his 200m breaststroke and 400m freestyle times to take silver in both. During the afternoon, further PBs in the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke earned him bronzes with his 2.42.88 in backstroke being a Scottish Swimming District Regional Programme (DRP) qualifying time. A further PB came in the 100m breaststroke which he broke again in the evening’s final in a 1.28.86 for another third place.

Sunday continued with an equally impressive set of swims. A whopping great 8 second improvement with a 2.50.27 for the 200m butterfly gave him silver and once again lowered his Shetland Age Group record.  This was followed with a superbly paced 800m freestyle where he broke the 10minutes with a 9.56.20 for second place. The afternoon session produced a 4 seconds PB in the 100m butterfly, achieving  yet another  Scottish Age Group time, but it was in the 400m IM that Eddie had a really stunning swim, knocking a massive 16 seconds off a month old PB – but in a tightly fought race he was just out-touched at the finish for 4^th place. Eddie still hadn’t done enough and faced three further finals in the last session. He proceeded to pick up three more medals. In the 200m IM his 2.43.80 was a bronze and was another time for the DRP. The 100 butterfly resulted in 3^rd place and in his last event of the championships, the 100m backstroke he further lowered his PB set in the heat to a 1.15.98 for silver. 

Eddie’s most remarkable achievement is that he now has consideration times for every event for next month’s Scottish Age Group Championships.

Edinburgh International, Tollcross, Glasgow, 12/13 February 2011

Donnie Price, South Mainland ASC, competed in 8 events in the 13/14 age group and the Open 200IM and created a new batch of Long Course PBs, setting further targets for the months to come.  Swimming at the high level meet were all the top boys in the country, providing the toughest competition since his last visit to Glasgow. Donnie’s highest place was a fourth in the 200m breaststroke with a 2.46.51. 

Other top ten places were achieved in the 200m free (5^th)  and the 200m backstroke (7^th) and in making two of the finals for 100’s, he finished in sixth place in the breaststroke. Breaking the minute for long course for the first time in the heat of the 100m freestyle, he was 10^th qualifier for the evening’s final where he then improved his with a 59.75 to move up to 8^th place.

North District Age Group Meet, Inverness, 5-6 February 2011

This was the meet that so many had looked forward to – having already been a victim of atrocious weather in December, when it was cancelled at the last moment, 11 South Mainland swimmers were due to head to the rescheduled meet at the beginning of February.

Unfortunately, once more, weather played havoc with our intentions of taking the biggest number of swimmers ever to the District meet – for many this was going to be a first time at the event. Ghastly gale force winds prevented the boat from sailing on the Thursday night so in the end only three swimmers decided to opt to fly to Inverness.

The first challenge of the weekend was enduring ‘the worst flight ever’  from Sumburgh to Inverness via Kirkwall – except that the Kirkwall brief stop didn’t happen, and although, to begin with, the plane thought that was where it was going, changed it’s mind within what felt like 10 feet of the ground and whooshed heavenward at the last moment. 

Announcements of trying again or having to divert were made, but not back to Sumburgh as it was closed due to the storm and not directly to Inverness as it too was closed, due to flooding.  So on we continued, suffering the extremely bumpy trip and landing in Aberdeen an hour and fifty minutes after taking from Sumburgh. Once safe on the ground, while most would happily have got off and caught a bus, train or hitchhiked, we were kept in our seats and once again launched into gale force winds and chucked about up to Inverness.

Despite the dodgiest of starts to the weekend all three swimmers swam extremely well, totalling 28 personal best times and a dozen medals between them.

Competing at the event for his  fifth and last time, 14 year old Donnie Price had a fantastic two days, swimming every event in the 13/14 boys age group. Over twelve events he achieved 10 personal best times and 7 medals making him the most successful swimmer from Shetland at the meet. His first medal came in the 100m breaststroke where he gained the bronze with a PB time of 1.14.70 and this was followed later in the day with a tremendous 4 second PB in the 400 IM where with a time of 5.01.70 he won his first gold of the weekend. The 200m breaststroke then produced another brilliant PB and this time he came second. Heading back to the pool on the Sunday provided Donnie with the opportunity to pull off some more great swims, a chance he was not to miss. In the 100m freestyle he gained a good PB, but with a strong field, a 58.29 was only good enough for a sixth place. However, in his second race in the morning, Donnie demonstrated his ever improving race skills in competing in the 1500m freestyle. Unworried by other competitors heading off very fast at the beginning and being ahead in the early stages, he kept it very steady for the first 500m before picking up his pace and pushing well in front of others. Maintaining his lead he finished in 17.13.32, achieving not just gold but also a time required this year for Scottish Youth Development Squad. Sunday afternoon brought a PB in the 200m IM heat and a place in the evening’s final. The 400m freestyle was swam in similar fashion to the 1500m, letting others burn out during the first 100m while holding back a little before increasing the pace and taking over the lead at the half way mark. Another good 4 second PB was produced for another gold medal. In the last session of the meet, Donnie still continued to produce quality swims. In the 200m backstroke he smashed his entry time by 8 seconds with a 2.22.96, achieving a 3^rd place and a new Shetland Age Group record. Ten minutes later came the final of the 200m IM and finishing off his meet in style, Donnie lowered his PB from the afternoon and successfully gained a bronze.

Donnie’s younger brother, Eddie, 12, also swam every race of the meet in the 10-12 years age group and successfully clocked up 12 PBs and 5 medals. The 400m freestyle was his first event, where he broke his target of 5 minutes for the first time with a 4.58.32 to take bronze. After another two PBs during the first session in the 100m butterfly and the 200m backstroke,  the afternoon got underway with the tough 400m IM and another good PB of 5.55.30, just missing out on the medals with 4^th place. A tiny PB was then achieved in his 100m freestyle with a 1.07.14, enough to get the silver. Saturday evening started with the 200m butterfly where he swam a very well paced race, and with two lengths to go held on to his lead to win the gold in 2.58.27, lowering his Shetland Age Group record by three seconds. The following day he started by taking six seconds off his 200m breaststroke time and achieved a time for Scottish National Age Groups in April.  The 1500m freestyle followed, where Eddie executed his race plan extremely well in maintaining a steady pace and finishing with an extra push in the closing stages. His resulting time of 19.27.83 earned a well deserved silver. His next race was the heat of 200m IM and producing another PB secured a place in the final. The 100m backstroke was another fabulous race, and a good 2 second PB.

The closing session of the competition brought one of the races that Eddie had been most looking forward to, the 200m freestyle where he excelled himself by whacking a huge 7 seconds off his  entry time with a 2.20.47 to finish in 3^rd place once again. Shortly after, he completed his events with the final of the 200 IM finishing in 5^th place.

Vhairi Davies, 12, competing in this level of competition for the first time, had a tremendous weekend making excellent PBs in all of her 5 races. Her meet started off by taking 2 seconds off her 100m butterfly followed by  9 seconds from her 200m backstroke. After a break in the afternoon, she faced one of the toughest events in swimming, the 200m butterfly and succeeded in improving her entry time by an incredible 17 seconds to finish in 3.17.30 and a very respectable 12^th place. Equally challenging was the 400m IM that greeted her on Sunday morning and once again Vhairi demolished her entry time by taking 21 seconds off her PB to get a 6.36.24. Her last race brought her yet one more good PB time of 1.24.29 in the 100m backstroke.

Scottish National Short Course Championships - 7-9 January 2011

A first timer at the championships was Donnie Price representing South Mainland ASC. The 14 year old swam eight races, including all four age group events for 15 and under boys plus four of the Men’s open events. His opening race of the meet was the Men’s 100m butterfly, where as only a reserve had been lucky to have the opportunity to swim and finished within a second of his entry time. The afternoon started off with the Boys’ 400m freestyle and Donnie made his first Pb of 2011.

Day two started with a good swim in the Men’s 100m breaststroke where he finished within a fraction of a second of his Pb. The afternoon’s event was the Boys’1500m freestyle, which he swam at a very steady pace throughout and finished in a Pb time of 17.21.33 and overall 13th position.

On the final day of the competition, Donnie produced his best swims. Once more having only qualified as reserve, he was seeded in the first heat of the Men’s 200m freestyle. At the 100m turn he had gone under the minute and doing his best to hold on to the pace during the second half of the race, finished with a 2 second Pb in a time of 2.05.35. Later he produced another Pb in the Men’s 200m breaststroke with a 2.44.24.

In the last of his races, the Boys’ 400m IM, Donnie produced his biggest Pb of the three days. Showing improvement in all 4 strokes but especially his fly and backstroke, and with an excellent final 50m sprint he finished with a huge 12 second Pb time of 5.05.03.

North District Sprint Championships - 2 October 2010

South Mainland ASC took 6 of their swimmers to the North District Sprint Championships held at Inverness.

In age 13/14 events, Donnie Price, 14, achieved PBs in each of his 50m races in the heats and qualified for finals in the breaststroke and butterfly where he improved times once more. With a 30.43 he finished 5th in the butterfly, having earlier in the day achieved a bronze medal with a time of 35.18 in the breaststroke. Donnie also swam the open 100m IM and had a tremendous 3 second PB for a 1.07.74.

Karl Eldridge, 14, accomplished four good PBs in his races, with his biggest improvement achieved in the butterfly with 34.09. His younger brother Darin, 13, gained a PB in the two races that he swam, with 31.49 for freestyle and 40.38 in the breaststroke.

South Mainland girls, Sarah Keay, 14, and Kirsty Laurenson, 14, both had good swims. Sarah was very pleased to gain a PB in her breaststroke with 39.94 finishing in 11th place and was satisfied to be on her entry times in her other events. Kirsty also managed a PB with a 31.52 for her freestyle and was within a second of entry times for her fly and backstroke.

In the youngest age group, 10-12 years, Eddie Price, 11, made PBs in every event, and with another year to go in the age groups was delighted to make three finals. He swam a 31.40 for his freestyle to finish 5th, 42.88 in breaststroke for 6th and 37.00 in butterfly for 7th.

The club again wishes to thank Mainlands, Freefield Pharmacy & Northlink Ferries for their continued support.

Inverclyde Masters - September 2010

Last weekend, Jan Price, South Mainland ASC, competed at the Inverclyde Masters held at the Waterfront Leisure Centre, Greenock. As always the meet got underway on the Friday evening with the ‘Inverclyde 800’, a mere race of 32 lengths in the 25metre pool. A challenging race for many, it was even tougher this year due to the water temperature more akin to baby pool than competitive swimming. Heat exhaustion is not usually associated with swimming but on this occasion many complained of being uncomfortable after the first few hundred metres, some finding they were having breathing difficulties and a few competitors not finishing. Jan herself felt a bit queasy during the second half of the race but that may have been a residue of a bumpy ferry trip the previous night! Her resulting time however was only 6 seconds outside her entry time set last year, with the 6 seconds being lost in the final 200 metres and she came 2nd overall in the 50 -54 age group.

After a good night’s sleep it was back in the pool early next morning for the start of a further 12 events over the day. The 200m freestyle resulted in her 2nd fastest ever time and a first place in the age group. Other events in the morning finished close on entry times apart from the 200m IM which was a disappointing 6 seconds away from her target. After a refuelling lunch break, the afternoon started with the rather dreaded 100m butterfly, not at all popular with the over 50s, so although her time again was outside entry time, Jan got a first in her age group – due to being the only one brave or daft enough to tackle the event! The remaining races of the day went much as planned, entry times being matched for most swims with a pleasant surprise coming in her 11th race of the day, 100 metre backstroke by finishing 2 seconds inside entry time.

Bridge of Don September Splash & Cult Otters Bibby Offshore Challenge - 4/5 September 2010

A team of 14 young swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club had a terrific weekend participating in two competitions in Aberdeen and amongst them won 2 dozen medals and achieved 3 dozen personal best times. On top of this, one of the youngest swimmers, Sophie Morris, 10, broke 3 Shetland Age Group records out of her six swims over the two days. At the September Splash at the Bridge of Don Pool she took 12 seconds off her 100m breaststroke time and won the silver medal, but it was in the Cults Otters competition at Northfield Pool that she pulled off her record breaking swims with a 1.34.30 in the 100m butterfly taking a silver and a 1.18.70 in the 100m freestyle for the bronze. Earlier she was given the challenge by South Mainland coach Jan Price to get a 3.15 for the 200m IM, and excelled herself by going 3.12.67 for another record and bronze medal. The talented youngster also won the silver for the 400m freestyle and only just missed a medal in the 100m backstroke. Her successful day resulted in being runner up for her age group.

Also swimming in the 8-10 age group was Erraid Davies, 9, South Mainland’s youngest competitor who swam the same races as Sophie. She finished only a fraction of a second behind her in the breaststroke at the Splash to take the bronze and continued this trend the following day with bronzes in the butterfly and the 400m freestyle. She had a further pb in the 100m freestyle and her biggest improvement was an 8 second pb for a 3.18.76 in the 200m IM.

In the boys 400m freestyle, Donnie Price, 14, led from the start and extended his lead throughout the race to take the gold in the 13/14 age group in a pb time of 4.25.77, while younger brother Eddie 11, pushed all the way in his heat by a older boy, took the silver in the 11/12 age group with his pb of 5.04.36. Silver seemed to be the favoured colour for the brothers with Eddie achieving second places in a further 4 events, all in pb times, and Donnie for his 200m IM, 100 free and a tremendous 1.16.38 in the100 breaststroke. Each came runner up in their age group overall.

Kirsty Laurenson, 14, had a very busy two days racing eight events in the 13/14 age group, with 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle being swum on both days. Her fly at Splash earned her a bronze medal while a 3 second pb for a 1.20.54 in the 100m IM gained her silver. She also improved her 100m breaststroke by a superb 3 seconds and the following day, her backstroke by 2 seconds.

In the same age group, Sarah Keay had some great swims at the Splash, starting to regain her form after a long spell out of training due to illness. Her efforts won her gold in the 100m breaststroke with her best time this year, a 1.30.26 and a bronze in the 100m freestyle. Morven Davies, 13, also gained a pb in the 100m breaststroke with a 1.44.80 and broke the 1.20 for the first time in her 100m freestyle with a 1.19.43.

The club had several girls in the 11/12 age group. Vhairi Davies, 12, swam 2 pbs at the Splash in her breaststroke and freestyle and was the only girl in the age group who had a race at the Cults meet. In her one race there, the 100m backstroke, she improved by 2 seconds for a 1.28.69 which should qualify her for the North District Age Group Meet in December. Also gaining district times were Cara Steven, 11, and Curstaidh Mackay, 11. Cara’s best swim was a 1.41.04 for the 100m breaststroke which resulted in the bronze medal. She improved in her 100m freestyle by 2 seconds and had a brilliant 5 second pb with a time of 1.36.82 in the 100m backstroke. Curstaidh swam equal or just a fraction of a second faster than her pbs in her 100 IM, 100m breaststroke and 100m butterfly, but it was in the 100m freestyle that she pulled out all the stops with a huge 4 second pb for a 1.16.20 resulting in a very well deserved gold.

12 year old Lucy Morris had 2 races at the Splash finishing marginally outside pbs in her freestyle and butterfly. Her twin brother James competed at both competitions. In the first day he successfully took the bronze in the 100m butterfly. At the Cults meet he then had 5 races during the day. He swam close to entry times but managed to achieve a 1 second pb in the 100m freestyle with a 1.14.07. Also gaining pbs for his 100m freestyle was Scott Riise, 12, and he did it twice over the weekend. A 1.17.08 at the Splash was a 1 second improvement on his pb and gained him silver medal. He then smashed this time the following day reducing it to 1.15.42. Scott also made a good pb in his 100m breaststroke at the Splash and also swam the 100m backstroke on the Sunday at the Cults meet. Big brother Jason, 14 competed in all 5 races at the Splash meet. His best race was his 100m backstroke where he dropped his time to 1.31.19 while his other times were close to entry times.

At the end of the weekend the tally was 3 golds, 12 silver and 9 bronze. Due to allocating of points to the top 10 swimmers in each event at the Cults meet, South Mainland ASC, one of the smallest clubs in the district, were proud to finish in 5th club place overall.

South Mainland would like to thank the following for their support; Mainlands, Freefield Pharmacy and Northlink.

Scottish National Open Championships - June 2010

South Mainland’s Donnie Price, 13, competing in the championships for the first time, swam 9 events spread over four days at the Championships in the Boys 16 and under age group and successfully managed to produce PBs in all but two races. As well as improving times in nearly all his swims he moved up the rankings from his seeded position in the heats. A two second improvement in his 200m freestyle, and a time of 2.09.29, placed him in the top third of the field of 125 competitors. In another event with over 100 competitors, the 200m IM, he again took off over 2 seconds and leapt up 30 places to finish in the top half. His highest finishing position in the age group events was 31st out of 74 swimmers in the 200m Breaststroke with a very good 4 second PB of 2.50.83.

Donnie also qualified for one open event as the youngest competitor in the 1500m freestyle. Using experience gained in previous races in recent months, he swam the second half of the race faster than the first half finishing it off with a very strong final hundred resulting in an excellent 8 seconds PB with a time of 17.47.23.

North District Open Championships, Westhill - 5/6 June 2010

Donnie Price, 13, South Mainland ASC, swam 11 events over the weekend. As a first-timer and amongst the youngest of male swimmers to qualify for the competition, he started off with a 2 second PB in the 200m IM. This was followed by another PB in the 400free where he came 17th out of 37 competitors. A further 2 PBs were gained in the afternoon by taking an excellent 8 seconds of his 200m butterfly and 6 seconds in the 200m breaststroke, where he came a remarkable 12th overall. The first day finished with breaking 1minute for the 100m freestyle for the first time with a 59.63.

Sunday started with a good swim in the 100m butterfly, scraping a fraction of a second off his PB. Mid morning was the 1500m freestyle, where once again Donnie paced it very well to finish with a new PB and overall 5th place. Only 20 minutes later and without a chance to fully recover, he was one of only three of the 1500m swimmers who opted to race the 200m backstroke, and like the other two he finished just outside entry time. In the afternoon session, Donnie produced another hat-trick of PBs with improvements in his 200m freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 400m IM.