YOUNG SCOTS PLACED FOURTH
EASTERN TOP TEAM AT BRITISH JUNIOR CHAMPS.The listing was posted by Scottish Disability - Swimming
Ponds Forge in Sheffield was the venue for the 2007 Nationwide DSE National Junior Swimming Championships. Britain’s leading young swimmers were competing for individual titles within their classification group and for points towards their team total in the prestigious team competition. Some of the swimmers taking part have aspirations of being part of the GB Paralympic team for London 2012 and every performance between now and then is important. After two days of quality swimming the young Scots finished a creditable fourth in the team event behind winners Eastern and runners up North West. They won a total of 29 individual and 2 relay titles and 68 medals overall. Team manager Jen Quinton was delighted with the team performance and in particular the points total, considering only 12 swimmers from Scotland qualified this year.
Calum Haddow was a late withdrawal from the team because of a shoulder fracture. Scotland’s leading junior Sean Fraser was an even later withdrawal because of a chest infection which only became apparent while he was warming up. Despite these significant team losses the Scots picked up silver medals in the two 34 point relays through Jack Brodie, Craig Hackett, Stefan Hoggan and Ryan Martin. There was a double relay gold medal success for the Scottish S12, S14 and S15 girls, a rare achievement for the Scottish team.
Once again the outstanding Scottish junior at the British championships was S12 swimmer Kirsten Taylor from the St Thomas club in Arbroath. Kirsten is now a student at Elmwood College in Cupar and her 2007 tally of medals was 10 individual and 2 relay golds. A remarkable performance considering she included in her swims 100 and 200 IM plus 50 and 100 across all strokes. This great all rounder is a rare talent indeed. Hopefully she will continue with her swimming and be as successful a senior as she has been a junior.
The most successful male swimmer was Alan Gray with 5 titles in the S5 class. There are those who believe this young man has yet to reveal his best and others who have identified him as a serious contender for 2012. The next couple of years are very important for Alan but 2007 will be remembered for his 5 individual British junior titles and in particular his swims in 100 and 50 breaststroke. One silver and 2 bronze medals were won by his Lothian team mate Jack Brodie and 3 bronze medals by Craig Hackett from the west of Scotland.
Jennifer Somerville from Lothian swims with the Dunedin club and she also had an outstanding championships. 5 individual medals including 3 golds was her final total and her win in 400metres freestyle a memorable event. Her other 2 wins came in her favoured backstroke events. Erin Goldstraw and Lindsey Hands from Tayside are visually impaired and together they contributed to the two Scottish gold medal relay successes and won a total of 13 individual medals. Deaf swimmer Lucy Walkup age 10 was the youngest member of the team and in her first championships the Glenrothes swim club member won 7 gold medals and 7 national titles. A remarkable performance by the young Fife swimmer who also went on to lead off the Scottish 4x100 medley relay team to a gold medal and swim a great 100m freestyle leg in the other Scottish relay gold medal success.
For the first time Scotland had two S14 swimmers in its team for the British championships. This class is reserved for swimmers with a learning disability and in Craig Rodgie and Amy McFarlane they had two outstanding performers. First time appearances are always a challenge but not for these two. It was only in the week leading up to the championships that the registration for West of Scotland’s Amy came through and she more than justified her selection with 4 titles. Craig also celebrated his selection with the news that his INAS-FID registration has been approved and he now has everything to go for at international level. The Carnegie Swim Club teenager won 5 silver and two bronze medals and was defeated by an established member of the GB team.
Ryan Martin from Fife celebrated his first selection for the national team with a double bronze medal success in the S8 class. His team mate Stefan Hoggan is classified as S9 and swims with the Glenrothes club. He was making his third appearance in Sheffield but this was his first year in the under 18 age group. Following the late withdrawal of Sean Fraser, who swims in the same class, it was up to him to fly the flag in the most competitive of the IPC Swimming classes. He did not disappoint and Scotland’s number two left the championships with 6 individual and 2 relay medals.
SDS has a long tradition of selecting successful teams for the British Junior Championships. The team of 2007 lived up to expectations. Numbers may have been small but every swimmer contributed to the medals total and there were many personal best performances. This is a period of squad rebuilding but within the current members there are strong prospects for London 2012. SDS acknowledges the major contribution to the Scottish team success by the support coaches and staff. Jen Quinton (team manager), Pat Agnew, Don McFarlane, Anna Tizzard, Paul Wilson and Anne Marie McFarlane.