National Swimming Open

 

Swim Team Borders celebrate victory at Scottish National Swimming Open Championships

 

Eight members of the Swim Team Borders programme competed at the 2009 Scottish National Short Course Open Swimming Championships in Glasgow from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 January, 2009.

Swim Team Borders is a squad of Borders club members who attend extra training sessions with Alex Jordan, the Borders High Performance Swimming Development Coach.

Together, Swim Team Borders and the Borders club programmes provide swimmers with the opportunity to meet the recommended number of sessions as outlined by British Swimming. Swim Team Borders members have chosen to increase their commitment to their swimming development by attending three to five morning training sessions (dependant on age) each week at the Selkirk Leisure Centre.

Competing for Galashiels Amateur Swimming Club (ASC), 14 year old Amy Fraser took gold in the 14 & under 800m Freestyle winning by a massive 25 metres with a huge 14 second personal best time. This secured a first ever Scottish National title for her coach Alex Jordan, originally from Australia.

Coach Jordan said: “It’s great to be able to say I have picked up my first Scottish title as a coach and it is something I’ll always remember. For Amy to do it in such spectacular style too was a huge bonus”.

 Amongst Fraser’s impressive list of results was her silver medal in the 14 & under 400m Freestyle and her 7^th placing (fastest 14 year old) in the Open 200m Butterfly. She was also the fastest 14 year old in the Open 100m Butterfly, 2^nd fastest 14 year old in the Open 200m Freestyle, the 3^rd fastest 14 year old in the Open 200m Individual Medley, the 3rd fastest 14 year old in the Open 50m Butterfly and she placed 4^th in the 14 & under 100m IM.

 After her fine performance, Amy narrowly missed out on selection for her Scottish team. At the end of the competition she was ranked second for selection but there was only one place on the team available for swimmers in her age group.

 

Fifteen year old Scott Wilcox of Teviotdale ASC also won gold as the first placed junior male in the Men’s Open 100m Individual Medley. Wilcox was also the equal second fastest 15 year old in the Men’s Open 50m Breaststroke knocking an impressive 1.3 seconds off his previous personal best time.

Kirsty Paterson, 15 years old, of Duns ASC was the third Swim Team Borders member to make finals/B finals placing 2^nd in the Open 50m Butterfly B final, 5^th in the Open 200m Butterfly B final and 5^th in the Open 400m Individual Medley B final.

Fifteen year old Euan Johnston and 14 year old Sarah Paterson (both of Duns ASC), 14 year old Maria Beattie and 13 year old Jessica Wilcox (both of Teviotdale ASC) and 11 year old Lucy Hope all represented their clubs and Swim Team Borders at the competition achieving many significant personal best times between them. Most notable amongst the results were Euan Johnston with a 38 second PB in the 15&U 1500m Freestyle and Maria Beattie with a 25 second PB in the 14&U 800m Freestyle. Lucy Hope also showed great composure and maturity when the 11 year old downed many older opponents in the three open and 14 years and under events in which she competed.

 

Coach Jordan said: “It was a great weekend and the swimmers impressed me with some significant personal best times. I was particularly pleased that the swimmers appear to be learning how to really race, how to get the absolute most out of themselves when they compete. The success of the swimmers proves that the Borders club coaches are doing a great job with their programmes and the Swim Team Borders programme is working in really well with the clubs.”

Swim Team Borders is one of several initiatives being implemented in the Borders Swimming Performance Development Programme. The programme aims to help further develop Borders swimmers and coaches, and improve the performance standard of Borders swimming as a whole.   The seven Borders clubs in the scheme are Duns, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedforest, Kelso, Peebles and Teviotdale Amateur Swimming Clubs.

Executive Member for Sport, Culture and Community Education Councillor Graham Garvie is delighted with the swimmers’ performances: “It is fantastic to see these young talented swimmers making their mark at a national level. Since the appointment of Alex Jordan, these swimmers are now receiving the training that is recommended in order to reach their potential. I am confident that these fine young swimmers will go on to more success into the future – they have certainly shown they have the determination and potential to do so.”

Three Borders youngsters competing solely for their clubs also competed strongly over the weekend.

15 year old Rebekah Wilson representing Duns ASC racked up an impressive list of results achieving personal best times in most of her events with a very busy programme over the weekend. She placed 7^th in the A final of the Open 100m Butterfly, 8^th in the A final of the Open 200m Butterfly, 8^th in the A final of the Open 50m Butterfly, 1st in the B final of the Open 400m Individual Medley, 4^th in the B final of the Open 200m Individual Medley, 4^th in the B final of the Open 100m Breaststroke and 5^th in the B final of the Open 200m Breaststroke.

14 year old Abigail Tait, representing Duns ASC recorded an impressive personal best time in the Women’s Open 100m Individual Medley.

Wilson and Tait also combined with Duns club mates Sarah and Kirsty Paterson to place 10^th, 13^th and 15^th in three open relay events over the weekend.

14 year old Zoe Wilson, representing Teviotdale ASC, swam strongly to cope well with the pressure of her first ever open national event finishing just outside her PB in the 100m Breaststroke.

 For more information on swimming opportunities in the Borders, please visit www.sportborders.org.uk.