Despite the adverse weather conditions many of Scotland’s Top Para Swimmers were in attendance at the National Short Course Performance Swimming Championships on Sunday 21 January, held at the country’s top swimming venue, Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow. The strength of the partnership between Scottish Swimming and Scottish Disability Sport is evident with a strong squad of both male and female swimmers progressing to an extremely competitive level.
Thirty nine swimmers were in attendance, with a number withdrawn with injuries and some due to the inclement weather.
Toni Shaw the S9 swimmer from Grampian, recently selected for Team Scotland for the Commonwealth Games, proved her selection with some top performances throughout the day. She had competition from 100m Backstroke World Record Holder in the S13 classification, Abby Kane from Ren 96 who ran her close in several events. Toni’s 100m Butterfly performance saw her breaking the Scottish record in a time of 1.11.50.
Conner Morrison the S14 swimmer competing for University of Aberdeen, world record holder in the 100m Breaststroke, was in good form and had some great races against the up and coming youngster from City of Glasgow Swim Team, Louis Lawlor.
The McCulloch twins, Fraser and Lewis, from Inverclyde ASC, again battled it out in the S15 classification, with Lewis coming away with most of the plaudits in their events.
The event was also open to some of Scotland’s up and coming youngsters, swimming as guests, enabling them to experience the competitive environment with timing pads and scoreboard.
The Performance Championships have become a valuable event in the calendar for Scottish Para swimmers, with the Long Course event scheduled for June in Stirling.
We wish Beth Johnston and Toni Shaw the best of luck at the Commonwealth Games and hope they achieve whatever goals they have set for themselves.