National Performance Swim Championships 2017

Two swimmers preparing to dive at the championships

Sunday 22nd January 2017

The Mercat Gait Centre in East Lothian played host to the Scottish Disability Sport / Scottish Swimming National Short Course Performance Swim Championships on Sunday 22nd January 2017, attracting 42 swimmers with a physical, sensory or learning impairment from all regions of the country.

The Performance Championships are a strong partnership event between Scottish Disability Sport and Scottish Swimming and were introduced to support regional development and create an appropriate competition for regional and national squad swimmers, inviting individuals from the Highlands, Grampian, Central, Fife the West and East of Scotland.  The event implements the IPC Multi-Classification system and for a number of swimmers, this was the first time they had experienced the British Swimming Points Scoring System allowing them valuable an introduction to these conditions and therefore preparing them for future competitions.

Records Tumble

The calibre of swimmers was evident for all to see, highlighted by the attendance of three Paralympians – Scott Quin & Stephen Clegg (East of Scotland) and Abby Kane (West of Scotland).  Paralympic medallists Quin (25) and Kane (13) demonstrated the form that secured silver medals in the SB14 and S13 classifications respectively, with youngster Kane building on that success by breaking three Scottish Records in the 50m Free (30.50), 100m Fly (1:18.69) and 100m Breast (1:26.29).  On top of this, the REN 96 swimmer wowed the crowd with an astonishing performance, swimming inside the world record time for the S13 100m Back – completing the distance in 1:09.42.

There were also notable performances from Borders Elite Swim Team (BEST) swimmer Beth Johnston who lowered the Scottish record in the S10 100m Back (1:16.77), Kayleigh Haggo (West of Scotland) and Rosie Sheridan (Central) who also claimed new Scottish records.

In total there were 66% of swims where personal bests were achieved, highlighting the importance of this gala in terms of encouraging the development of swimmers.

Scottish Disability Sport would like to express thanks to all the dedicated volunteers from the SASA East District for their Swimmers lined up at the championshipsinvaluable support on the day, as well as the expertise provided from multi Paralympic medallist Jim Anderson OBE who kindly handed all medals to the successful swimmers.  Paul Wilson, the Disability Performance Development Manager, was also present to ensure the smooth running of the event lending his experience to the points system for the event.

For further information on the event or swimming for people with disabilities in Scotland, contact Scottish Disability Sport on 0131 317 1130 or email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.