Swimming 6/8/07
Mixed Fortunes for Top Scots in SheffieldThe listing was posted by Scottish Disability - Swimming
The ASA National Swimming Championships were held in Sheffield during the last week. The championships included a full programme of events for swimmers with a disability and Scotland’s leading swimmers were competing.
Andrew Lindsay (Stirling Swim/Disability Sport Fife) was the top Scottish performer with a gold medal in the 100m backstroke. This is an event where he will be going for his third successive Paralympic gold medal in Beijing next year. Andrew was challenged all the way however by young pretender 16 year old Jonathon Fox from Newquay. In the 50m backstroke Fox pushed Lindsay into silver medal breaking the S7 world record in the process – a record which Lindsay had set in May this year. Lindsay completed his medal tally with a silver in the 400m freestyle.
Jim Anderson (Broxburn) had an up and down week with some good swims and some not so good. He did however take gold in the 200m freestyle finishing one place ahead of Kenny Cairns (Stirling Swim/Port Glasgow Otters). Jim and Kenny both had illnesses in the early part of the year and they were not at their very best in Sheffield. They will however have their sights set on qualification for Beijing next year.
Three other Stirling based swimmers completed the Scottish contingent at the championships. Charlotte Henshaw took silver medals in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke losing out by fractions of a second on both occasions to world record holder Liz Johnson from Swansea. Johnson will be favourite for gold in the SB6 class in next year’s Paralympic Games but Charlotte’s performances must give her a great chance of not only qualifying for her first major championships but also challenging for medals.
Henshaw’s Stirling Swim colleagues Mhairi Love and Angela McCowan also made finals. Mhairi won a silver medal in the Athens Paralympics in the S6 400m freestyle, but this event has been cut from the Beijing programme. In Sheffield she contested the 50m and 100m freestyle. Angela competed in the 400m freestyle, an event where she set the British record for the S9 class at last years World Championships. She was also close to her best in the final of the 100m backstroke.