It is a useful exercise to reflect and celebrate as the year draws to an end and in this instance the subject is young Cameron Hemphill from Ladybank and Bell Baxter HS. Cameron has cerebral palsy and is one of Fife and Scotland’s up and coming junior swimmers. Cameron follows in the tradition of recent and past Fife swimmers who have demonstrated enormous commitment and dedication to training and have reaped the rewards accordingly.
Cameron’s club history involved an initial period with the Cupar and District club followed by a successful move to InCAS where he struck up an excellent relationship with coach Garrie Roberts. The summer period was a tough time for the Hemphill family when they found out that Garrie was moving on from InCAS. Garrie and Cameron had worked together for 18 months and not only was the partnership strong but Cameron’s progress was significant.
After a great deal of soul searching and consultation with significant others, the family decision was taken to change clubs. A successful approach was made to Morag Mitchell at Carnegie Swimming Club and on September 1st Cameron successfully made his move. Cameron is now a member of the Carnegie SC Performance Development White Squad.
Due to travel challenges and school priorities, Cameron has been unable to commit to early morning training sessions. Carnegie SC head coach Morag Mitchell and her coaching team have been incredibly accommodating in allowing Cameron to maintain his training hours and being flexible with the sessions he attends.
Cameron is now training with the Club 10.5 hours a week. His main Coach is Barry McMillian whom he works with for three sessions. Already they have struck up a strong relationship. Cameron is also coached once a week by Gary Hallam. On Tuesday evenings Cameron trains with the junior and senior performance squads that are coached by Morag herself. Cameron has settled in to the club well and is enjoying training immensely. In addition to Carnegie SC, Cameron is training with the Scottish National Junior Squad once a month.
Cameron has had an excellent swimming year so far. PB’s have been recorded at every major meet. The highlight of the year for Cameron was recording qualifying times for the Scottish Open at Tollcross in Glasgow in June this year. This was the last occasion that Cameron was coached by Garrie Roberts and he set PBs for 100m Backstroke (1:44.20), 50m freestyle (34.27), 110m freestyle (1:18.08) and 400m Freestyle (6:00.34). In the case of 400m freestyle it was a long course PB by over 12 seconds and for 100m backstroke a long course PB by over 8 seconds.
Since joining the Carnegie club, Cameron has competed in the club championships where he set PB’s for 50m back, breast and freestyle. Cameron also swam at the recent Carnegie SC Winter Graded Meet, where he set PB’s in 100M back, breast and freestyle. In his breast stroke the improvement was over 10 seconds and in backstroke over 6 seconds. Cameron won his first ever gold medal in a mainstream meet for his age group.
Cameron’s goals for the coming year are to perform well at the upcoming SDS junior swimming Championships at Grangemouth Sports Complex and also at the British Para-swimming Championships in Manchester at the start of December. In 2019 Cameron will be concentrating on the British International Para Swimming Championships at Tollcross and also the Scottish Open for a second time.
Cameron is one of a number of Fife based Para athletes who have access to a strength and conditioning programme coordinated by the Fife Sports and Leisure Gym gym manager Stuart Bizzarri through Disability Sport Fife. Cameron enjoys two sessions a week at the Michael Woods Sports & Leisure Centrea courtesy of the FSLT talented athlete programme. Like those before him Cameron is benefitting enormously from the strength gains he is experiencing.
Away from training Cameron enjoys cycling and spending time with his friends and family. Cameron is now in his fourth year at Bell Baxter HS and is as conscientious about his studies as he is about swimming. Exams are as important as swim meets and I have no doubt this very committed young Fife swimmer will perform to the best of his ability in both.
In the longer term Cameron is keen to take advantage of Disability Sport Fife volunteering opportunities as a peer mentor and working towards coaching qualifications. In Cameron’s own words he hopes “to ‘give back’ some of the excellent support he has had from Disability Sport Fife over the last few years”. If success is based on commitment and dedication then Cameron Hemphill has every chance of excelling at the highest level in Para swimming.
Cameron was awarded a Bill Pullar Bursary at the Disability Sport Fife Awards evening held earlier in the year. The award was presented by the Provost of Fife because Mrs Margaret Pullar could not attend due to ill health.
Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife