Buckie Age Group Championships - April 2009

Nine swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club had a very successful trip at the recent Buckie one day event returning with 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze, some Shetland Age Group records and a very creditable 18 personal bests.

Eddie Price, 10, led the way with Golds in the boys 10years 100m butterfly in 1.36.24 and 100m freestyle where he improved on his PB by 1.94 seconds to finish in 1.15.73, a new Shetland Age Group record for 10 & under. He also had a pb and a bronze in the boys 10 year 100m breaststroke with a time of 1.44.73. In the 100m backstroke he swam 1.32.67 and came 4th.

Not to be undone, his older brother Donnie, 12, won Silver in the boys 12-13 100m Butterfly improving his personal best by 2.79 seconds with a time of 1.16.49. Finishing as the fastest 12 year old in all events, he also achieved personal bests and Shetland Age Group records in the 200m freestyle (2.16.71), 200m IM (2.37.26), and the 100m backstroke (1.15.86).

James Morris, 11, had a very good meet gaining PBs in each of his four events, the 11 year old boys 100m breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle where his times were 1.46.05, 1.28.09, 1.41.5 and 1.17.49

respectively.

Scott Riise, 10, swam in the boys 10 year old 100m breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle. In both the breaststroke and freestyle he lowered his best times by a huge 6.77s and 5.56s with times of 1.49.99 and 1.20.63 and achieved 4th place in both races.

Older brother Jason Riise, 12, swam consistently well in all four 12-13 year old boys 100m events. His best result was in the 100m freestyle where he narrowly missed a personal best in a time of 1.20.52.

Eldest of the South Mainland girls was Bethany Byrne-McCombie, 13, who swam in all four 12-13 years girls 100m events and the girls 10-15years 200m IM. Like Jason, Bethany swam consistently well, narrowly missing a PB in the 100mfreestyle in a time of 1.16.21.

Lucy Morris did nearly as well as her brother James, gaining three PBs in the 11 year old girls 100m backstroke, butterfly and freestyle with times of 1.36.02, 1.48.62 and 1.26.60 respectively.Vhairi Davies, 10, like Lucy, gained three PBs the best of which was in the 100m butterfly for10 year old girls where she lowered her time by 3.83s to 1.44.54 which was rewarded with a 7th place. Her other times were  1.58.65 for the 100m Breaststroke, (0.34pb), 1.37.93 for the 100m Backstroke, (3.16pb), and 1.32.09 for the 100m Freestyle.

Curstaidh MacKay, 10, swam in the 10year old girls 100m breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle gaining a personal best of nearly two seconds in the freestyle with a time of 1.27.87. She narrowly missed a PB in the breaststroke with a time of 1.57.99.

The South Mainland club would like to thank the continued support of their sponsors and the invaluable contributions made by Jill and Iain Henderson of Mainlands and the Freefield Pharmacy.

Scottish National Age Group Championships, Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh - April 2009

At the Scottish National Age Group Championships held at Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool, Donnie Price,12, became the first swimmer from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club to win an Age Group Scottish National Champion title, which he achieved in the 10-12 year boys 1500m freestyle.

Swimmers representing 29 English and 32 Scottish swim clubs competed over 5 days at this top level competition. Competing for his first time in a National championship, Donnie had qualified for 10 events. He produced good personal best times in the 200m breaststroke, long course bests in the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley and was on his entry time for the 100m breaststroke. Only his 100m backstroke was a little off his entry time. However it was in the 5 freestyle races that Donnie, without doubt, performed his best, breaking his Shetland Age Group records.

On the first day of competition, in the 200m freestyle heats, Donnie improved by 1.5 seconds on his previous long course time which was enough to qualify for the evening’s final. An excellent race resulted in taking over 1 second off his heat time to finish in 2.18.91, 7th place and 4th out of the Scottish boys, just behind 12year old Sandy Waller from Heart of Midlothian. Having met Sandy last year when the Hearts club visited Shetland for a training weekend, Sandy and Donnie now met in race after race. On the Thursday in the 800m freestyle, Donnie was a fraction ahead of Sandy until the last turn and in the final 50m was pushed all the way with Sandy just touching 1 second ahead to take 3rd place to Donnie’s 4th.

A virtual repeat performance took place on Friday during the 400m freestyle when again the two boys kept pace with one another throughout the 8 length race, with once more Sandy just beating Donnie by a mere fingernail, 0.12 seconds ahead. The result was a 5th place for Donnie. Then on Saturday, for the fourth day in a row the boys lined up in lanes 1 and 2, with 12year old Dale McAnish from Grangemouth in lane 3. With similar entry times and having witnessed the earlier freestyle events, again an exciting race was expected. The youngsters did not disappoint. For the first 400m all three could not be separated, but over the next 400m Donnie inched slightly in front of Sandy and a couple of body lengths ahead of Dale. Donnie worked hard, maintained excellent pace and increased his lead a fraction of a second each length. At the final 100m both boys gave it their utmost, but the lead Donnie had built up was just enough to give him a clear 3 seconds over Sandy and a superb long course time of 18.53.22. At this stage of the event Donnie was the fastest 10-12 year boy, but in the following heat Thomas Gregson, all the way from Portsmouth, produced an outstanding swim to take 1st overall place. As Thomas is English, it was then Donnie, in addition to getting silver medal for 2nd place, as the top Scot was awarded a Scottish National Age Group Champion medal.

On the last day, the 100m freestyle heats brought an unanticipated challenge, when as the race started, the starting flash light for a deaf swimmer failed and the false start rope was dropped as the rest of the swimmers hit the water. Unfortunately Donnie swam hard into the rope giving himself a painful red rope burn. In the few minutes that it took to re-start the race, Donnie started to shiver and was disappointed in his heat time. Fortunately it was still fast enough to qualify for the final. In the final of an exciting 100m freestyle Donnie just lost out on the bronze medal by half a second.

Altogether, this five day event was a tremendous experience. Both Donnie and Mum/coach Jan gained a lot of valuable knowledge from the competition which included having the opportunity to chat with swimmers and coaches from bigger clubs.

One of the main differences to other events is that morning session warms ups are earlier – 7am and last for up to an hour and a half, so swimmers can choose when they want to warm up and for how long. Donnie found that he benefitted from the extra long warm up. There is no segregation of sexes or clubs, and depending on what events are being swum in a session, it can be a very busy pool. Another facility at top level competitions is having the use of an extra pool – at the RCP it was the diving pool to swim down after a race.There were also tighter controls on access to changing rooms and poolside – no-one being allowed in these areas without an official pass. Spectators were only allowed in designated areas in the seating area, and swimmers were only allowed to spectator area once in dry & dressed in non swimwear.

Then and now

Jan had swum at the Royal Commonwealth Pool at same event 35 years ago, but there were far fewer swimmers back then and the whole competition lasted only 2 days. Swimmers started at the shallow end – yes back in the olden days, diving into less than 1m was allowed!

Forres Bluefins two Day Meet - March 2009

Nine swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club competed in the recent Forres Bluefins 2 day Meet and each achieved at least one personal best time in their races, with some returning home with medals.

Eddie Price, 10, had a very successful weekend, winning gold in the boys 8-10 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 100m Individual Medley where his time of 1.31.43 was a 3.5 second improvement on his PB. A great race in the 50m butterfly earned him a silver.

Also competing in this age group was Scott Riise, 10, whose best times were a PB in 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke, where he was 5th in both events. Older brother, Jason Riise swam 100m events in the 12 year age group and had his best result when he improved his 100m IM time by 3 seconds. His highest place was finishing 6th in 100m breaststroke.

Eleven year old James Morris swam consistently well to achieve 4 PBs. In the 100m freestyle he lowered his PB by one second to 1.17.74 and just missed out on a medal by a tiny 7/100 of a second. He was also placed 4th in 100m breaststroke, 5th in 100m backstroke and 6th in 100m IM, so was thrilled when he made 3rd place and a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly.

The four boys took part in two relay races, and came 5th in Saturday’s medley relay.

Late on Sunday afternoon, club swimmers, coaches, parents and friends were provided with one of the most exciting races of the weekend by the boys in the 4x50m freestyle relay. James led off well, followed by Jason, then Scott. At the final takeover, Eddie was about 5 metres ahead of a 12year old Forres boy. At the turn Eddie could see the older boy was gaining on him, but put in a determined effort and managed to hold on to the lead touching just 1/2 second in front. This fantastic swim was enough to result in the boys winning the bronze medal, only beaten by a team of 12 year olds boys from Thurso and a first class gold medal team from Delting.

Eldest of the South Mainland girls was 12 year old Morven Davies, in her first event south for nearly two years. She had 4 PBs and displayed improvement in all her strokes. Her biggest PB was in the 100m IM where she knocked off a substantial 5 seconds. In her last individual event she was set the target of breaking the 1.30 mark and was delighted to touch in 1.28.06.

Lucy Morris, 11, made 3 PBs over the two days. Her best event was in the 100m backstroke where she improved her PB by over 3 seconds with a time of 1.38.97 and finished in 9th place. Her other PBs were for

100m butterfly and the 100m IM.

Vhairi Davies, 10, managed to gain 4 good PBs. Improving on her entry time by just over 1 second in the 50m backstroke she narrowly missed a medal, finishing in 4th place and was 7th in 50m butterfly, 9th in breaststroke and free style. Her 100m IM time of 1.40.53 was a super 6 second PB and gained her 6th place.

Curstaidh Mackay, 10, had a perfect 5 out of 5 PBs, showing excellent, steady improvement in all events where her best placings were 7th for both the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle. Curstaidh also managed to drop her 50m free times when it came to joining Lucy, Vhairi and Morven in the relays, where she brilliantly swam the final leg in both the medley relay and the freestyle relay.

While in the boys relays, only 2 heats were swum, there were 3 heats for the girls and with some teams made up of four 12 year old girls, the younger girls from South Mainland were up against some very experienced and faster opposition. Although not managing to win a medal like the boys, they nevertheless gained valuable experience in the thrill and excitement of relay races.

Morven and Vhairi’s younger sister Erraid at just 8 was one of the youngest competitors at Forres and swam all 5 races in the 8-10 girls age group. The talented youngster gained superb PBs and was placed 8th in 50m backstroke and 9th in 100IM. Whizzing through the water in her last race, the 50m butterfly, she astounded all with an incredible time of 43.46, which gained her a excellent 5th position.

South Mainland ASC would like to thank Northlink and Freefield Pharmacy for their continued support and sponsorship.

SMASC Coaches Report, April 2008 – March 2009

South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club has a healthy swimmer membership of 37, from 7 years to 50! who have continued to progress in their abilities over the last year with many taking part in both local & south galas.

At local galas, South Mainland continue to do very well with Junior & Senior members taking home a huge range of Age Group Trophies, medals and personal best times (pbs). There are quite a variety of galas in Shetland & it is great to see the attendance we have at them. We definitely had the noisiest support for our swimmers.

A special congratulation to the whole team for recently winning this years Beta League competition. Beta League gives a wide age range & ability of swimmers a chance to compete against other Shetland swimmers AS A TEAM. Well Done. Thanks should also go to parents & families for all the timekeeping we provide & the super support given.

Congratulations also to Darin Eldridge, Donnie Price, James Morris & Eddie Price who have broken existing Shetland Records.

At this point, we should definitely take the time to thank all the technical officials, without whom these galas would not be able to take place, or be accredited.

Shetland is getting to a critical point for Judges & I would urge anyone to think of volunteering for Judge 1. Everyone is now mentored until they feel accomplished at timekeeping, before progressing on to the judging part.

Over the year the club attended 13 galas south. It would have been slightly more but due to unforeseen circumstances some were cancelled. Attending meets on the mainland takes a huge amount of planning mainly before the club even leaves Shetland. But the benefits the swimmers gain from competing in a bigger field make it definitely worthwhile. Many regularly return home with pbs, medals, speeding tickets and trophies which are an absolute credit to their enthusiasm & dedication.

As the swimmers attend more meets within the North District & further afield they regularly meet the same swimmers & its great to see friendships forming from across Scotland. These meets also give coaches a chance to network & tap into a huge resource of information.

Twenty one swimmers attended meets south, mostly part-funded by the club. Some swimmers self funded due to choice or being outwith our trips policy.

The range of meets we attend is huge- from Inverness Graded meet, often the first meet south a swimmer attends through to the Scottish National Age Group Championships, where a mention must go to Donnie Price in becoming the 11-12year old SNAGs Boys Champion in 1500m Freestyle – a tremendous achievement coming from a 17m pool!

In the month preceding this Donnie brought home another top award - the North District Age Group Champion overall 11/12year boy. This certainly gives our younger swimmers something to aspire to.

DEVELOPMENT of swimmers is ongoing in Shetland with progression from club swimming to include development & then County Squad Training in their hectic schedules. This can be a huge boost to the children & gives them the opportunity to train with swimmers from throughout Shetland.

The Shetland Development Squad now includes Jason & Scott Riise, James, Lucy & Sophie Morris, Eddie Price, Morven & Vhairi Davies, Sophie Moar, Curstaidh MacKay, & Cara Steven within their ranks.

And those who swim with the Shetland County Squad are Donnie Price, Bethany Byrne McCombie, Sarah Keay, Kirsty Laurenson & Darin & Karl Eldridge

For the first time 2 swimmers, Donnie Price & Sarah Keay, gained places in the North District Regional Programme & travelled to Aberdeen to take part in land & pool training days with other North District swimmers. These sessions, led by Olympic Coach Doug Campbell are also beneficial to coaches, bringing back tips to other club swimmers.

At home our Club Sessions continue on Sundays 4-6pm. Thank You to the clubs poolside volunteers for giving up their time & providing commitment & enthusiasm.

I was recently asked about poolside volunteers qualifications; We have 2 Coaches at Level 1 – Jan Price & Susan Keay & 4 Teachers at Level 1 - Yvonne MacGregor, Jan Price, Justin Eldridge & Susan Keay. But the club could not operate without ALL the poolside volunteers who give up their Sunday teatimes – Jimmie Morris & Ian Bray.

Also thanks to parents for getting swimmers to poolside in plenty of time!!!!!!!!!!!!! The club is always on the lookout for those willing to assist on poolside.

We have had a number of extra timing sessions and a few coaching sessions at Clickimin, which we hope to increase over the next year, along with the addition of an early morning session at Sandwick.

Masters – Our oldest swimmer, Jan Price, continues to win medals at Masters competitions South & is always on the lookout for a relay team –volunteers welcome.

Disability Swimming- Erraid Davies was invited as a guest swimmer to the National Disability Gala for Physical & sensory impairment. This was funded by the Callum Younger Reach Fund & was a great experience for her.

Land Training- There have been a few land training sessions over the year, the last being with Jake Williams. These have been a success, although finding a suitable time slot always proves difficult.

So all in all it has been a very successful year for the club & hopefully the next year will continue in the same way.

North District Age Group Championships, Inverness - 7-8 March 2009

South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club swimmer, Donnie Price, 12, was awarded the trophy for top boy age 10-12 at the North District Age Group Championships in Inverness. On his way to achieving this title he won 4 gold (100m, 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle), 1 silver (100m breaststroke), and 3 bronze medals (200m breaststroke, 200m IM and 400m IM). In the 200m backstroke he was placed 4th, 7th in 100m butterfly and 8th in 100m backstroke. In all but the 400m IM he produced personal best times, lowering his previously set Shetland Age Group records.

A convincing winner in the 4 freestyle events, Donnie was aiming for a time under 10 minutes in the 800m and was thrilled to hit the touch pad well under target in an excellent time of 9.52.68. In other races he experienced tough challenges with his competitors being equal or faster. After Saturday afternoon’s heats of the 100m breaststroke, 4 boys had qualified for the evening final with only 1/2 second between them. A tremendous race for the youngsters pushed the first three to each swim a massive 2 seconds faster than in the heats, with Donnie just being beaten into second place by 7/100 second.

Day two of the competition continued with plenty more events, again some with evening finals. Having knocked over 2 seconds off his entry time, Donnie found himself ranked in 3rd place for the 200IM. Determined not to lose out on a medal he swam a superb race, finished 3rd and had taken a further 2 seconds off his PB, thus his biggest improvement of the weekend.

South Mainland’s other swimmers who had qualified for the Championships for the first time, were Darin Eldridge 11, and Sarah Keay 12. Only a few 11 year olds were competing, and Darin swam very well in his 5 races. He had a brilliant 2 sec PB in the 100m freestyle finishing in 1.10.59. His 200m breaststroke was his highest placed event finishing in 11th and his remaining events were all on entry times.

Due to illness, Sarah reduced her events to just 3; 100m free, 100m breaststroke & 100m butterfly. All 3 races left her exhausted but she had performed tremendously well to finish each just a fraction of a second outside PBs.

South Mainland ASC would like to express their thanks and appreciation of the support and sponsorship towards this trip, given by Northlink, Mainlands, Dunrossness Community Council, and Sandwick Community Council.

Shetland Junior Age Group Championships, 22nd February 2009

Edinburgh International Age Group Championships, Royal Commonwealth Pool - February 2009

Two young swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club recently attended the Edinburgh International Age Groups Championships, a 3 day competition held at the Royal Commonwealth Pool.

For Sarah Keay, age 12, this was her first time of competing in a 50metre pool, long course competition and for team mate Donnie Price, 12, his first opportunity to swim more than a 1 length race long course.

With a view to progressing to competing in Scottish National events, the swimmers gained valuable experience in learning to adapt to the different pool length and coped well with the challenges of races without the additional push offs with more frequent turns in standard 25m pools.

Meeting up with top ranked swimmers from throughout Scotland, Sarah swam 8 events and Donnie swam all 9 events for 11/12 year boys. This included the tremendously demanding 200m butterfly, a race that only attracted up to 12 swimmers – a lot less than the 48 qualifiers for other events in their age group.

Since neither Donnie or Sarah had previously swam their races in a 50 metre pool, all times were recorded as new long course Personal Bests. Their times, converted to short course were all close to PBs or improvements.

On the first day of competition, Donnie found himself in the fastest heats for the 200m freestyle and the 100m breaststroke. He came 4th in the 200m freestyle with a PB and a new Shetland Age Group record and qualified in 6th place for the final of the 100m breaststroke. Returning for the evening’s finals, he improved both his time and his place, and in a closely fought race finished in 4th position.

On day two, the 200m butterfly was a low point for Donnie, but excellent swims in the heats of the 100m backstroke and the 100m freestyle resulted in two more evening finals.

In the backstroke he maintained his position, finishing in 6th. In the 100m freestyle, like the previous day, he swam his final faster than the heats and held on to his position of third place, his time of 1.04.46 his second Shetland Age Group record of the meet.

On the last day of competition, Donnie had a very good 200m breaststroke with a time when converted to short course provided him with his third Shetland Age Group record. In the 200m backstroke race he finished 6th and with a new personal best in the 100m butterfly came 10th

Sarah had a mixed 3 days. On the Friday, her 200m freestyle and 100m breaststroke were just outside her entry times, but like most young swimmers, she was disappointed not to swim any times that when converted would have been personal bests. However, after a good night’s sleep, she bounced back on day two, when in her 100m backstroke improved greatly on her position from ranked 30th to finishing a creditable 17th overall. In her 100 freestyle, she was delighted to then swim a personal best of 1.11.26.

On the third day, the 200 breaststroke gave Sarah her next chance show what she’s capable of, and once again swam a PB. Her final 2 races were both swum well, although just slightly down on times.

The South Mainland swimmers and coaches would like to thank Mainlands and Northlink for their ongoing sponsorship and support.

North District Age Group Meet, Inverness - December 2008

Six young swimmers from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club had a successful weekend last month, competing at the North District Age Group Meet at Inverness.

While fellow Shetland county squad swimmer, Felix Gifford of Delting Dolphins stood out as the most successful 13-14 boy, South Mainland’s Donnie Price, age 12, was the top boy in the 10-12 year age bracket.

The only boy in his age group to compete in all 12 events, Donnie won golds for 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle. Silver was won in the 100m breaststroke and bronze medals came in the 200m breaststroke and 200m backstroke. In each swim a personal best time was achieved and 10 new Shetland 11/12 years age group records were accomplished on the way, including the 200m butterfly, and both the 200m and 400m individual medleys. Undoubtedly Donnie’s most outstanding swim was in the 1500m freestyle. Guaranteed to win a medal, since only 3 boys age 10-12 were competing in this the longest pool event, he swam in a seeded heat that also included boys from the older age group.

Going out fast from the start, he maintained his pace in clockwork fashion, pulled ahead of some of the bigger boys by halfway, and, cheered on by his team mates on poolside during the last 200m, finished 2 lengths clear of the second position swimmer in his age group. Finishing in a time of 18.50.22, he had knocked off 59 seconds from the previous Shetland 11/12 years record.

Darin Eldridge, age 11, competing in this meet for the second year, was kept very busy with 11 events. He displayed improvement in entry times for all strokes and distances, but especially in the 200m & 400m events where he has had little previous experience at this level of competition. In the 400m IM he took off a remarkable 15 seconds from his PB, to finish in 6.14.72, 11th place overall but 3rd out of the 11 year old boys. Darin’s best achievement was in the 200m breaststroke where he finished 7th overall, the 2nd fastest 11 year old.

Only five 10 year old boys had qualified for the Inverness meet, and two of them, James Morris and Eddie Price were from South Mainland. James swam in 5 events, and despite having been ill the previous week, managed to produce 3 good personal best times. James and Eddie, used to pushing each other in training at Sandwick, had a fantastic race in the 200m backstroke, where Eddie was just out-touched by 1/2 second by James, whose time of 3.08.77 was a new Shetland record for 10 year boys.

In both the 100m and the 200m freestyle James and Eddie were again swimming in the same heat. Eddie finished with a good PB in the 100m and James was just outside his previous best. The 200m free, the last event for both boys, once more was closely fought – both producing huge 8 second PBs. Eddie, the very youngest boy from over 20 clubs competing at the meet, finished in a time of 2.43.72, beating his big brother’s Shetland 10year boys record by over 2 seconds.

The girls taking part were 12 year olds Kirsty Laurenson, competing at the event for the first time, and Sarah Keay. Sarah woke up on the Saturday with a stinking cold, so the weekend was going to be a real challenge. However, despite feeling far from top form, she coped well with the fairly hefty schedule of 10 events, and produced swims close to her entry times. Remarkably, Sarah even managed to pull off a couple of PBs. In her best event of the weekend, the 100m breaststroke she broke the 1.30 mark for the first time, with 1.29.00, a 2sec PB and finished in an excellent 7th overall position.

In 2007, Kirsty just missed qualifying for the event, but with a further 12 months of sound training found herself now swimming in 10 events. In nearly all her races she produced good PBs. Her best swims came in 200m butterfly and the 400m IM, arguably the two toughest events in competitive swimming. With her stamina gained from regular hard work in the pool, Kirsty showed brilliant improvement from her previous times.

South Mainland ASC would like to thank the following for their sponsorship and support; Nothlink Ferries, Mainlands, JHB Ltd, JA&GD Nicolson and Freefield Pharmacy.

Shetland Junior Age Group Sprints - 28 September 2008