Scottish Para Swimmers made the familiar trip to Ponds Forge in Sheffield to compete in the Para Swimming World Series which incorporated the British Para-Swimming between Thursday 16 and Sunday 19 March.
The meet provided Scots, and their GB counterparts, with their only opportunity to qualify for the World Para Swimming Championships, taking place in Manchester this summer.
Paul Wilson, Scottish Swimming’s Disability Performance Development Manager, said of the event,
“This has been an excellent meet where the quality of racing has been very high. There have been a lot of positives to take from the event, including a number of Scottish Records, and perhaps more importantly, personal bests set across the classifications. The key now is for the athletes to move their performances on, and I look forward to them developing their race plans and executing them in the season ahead.”
Congratulations to all swimmers on their fantastic performances. A breakdown of the highlights for each day of the event can be found below.
Day 1
- University of Edinburgh swimmer Stephen Clegg wasted no time in posting that qualification time for the home World Championships, with an excellent heat swim in the 100m Freestyle. Stephen, who competes in the S12 category, was less than half a second outside of his own British Record, coming home in a time of 53.92 in the first session of the weekend.
- Toni Shaw, back competing with University of Aberdeen Performance, was the second Scot to dip under that all important qualification time, also in the 100m Freestyle. The S9 swimmer is only competing in the 100m Freestyle this weekend, so will be happy to have left with a chance of being able to compete at the World Championships.
- City of Glasgow S14 swimmer Louis Lawlor set a new Scottish record in the 100m Freestyle, in a time of 53.97, before later lowering it to 53.93. Louis was just outside the world qualification time with both swims.
- University of Aberdeen Performance swimmer Faye Rogers made her debut in international competition with a pair of impressive swims in the multi-classification 100m Freestyle (S10) and 200m Individual Medley (SM10) – earning a place in final in both
Day 2
- Sam Downie, of East Lothian Swim Team and Musselburgh Marlins, secured a World Championships Qualification Time in the 100m Backstroke heats in the morning, with the S8 swimmer coming home in a PB of 1:08.52 to all but secure his place on the Great Britain World’s Team for a second year in a row. Commonwealth swimmer Sam qualified for the World Series Final 2, and swam another time under his old PB, touching home in 1:09.11.
- Stephen Clegg added another Worlds Qualification Time to his armoury on Friday – this time in the 100m Backstroke, in what was an S12 Scottish Record time of 1:00.94. The Edinburgh University athlete then lowered his record to 1:00.23 to take Gold – agonisingly close to the sub-60 second mark.
- University of Edinburgh swimmer Scott Quin became the highest scoring British Swimmer in the Multi Classification 100m Breaststroke final in a time of 1:07.48, but was disappointed not to achieve the World Championship qualifying time.
- University of Stirling swimmer Abby Kane continued her programme with an appearance in the 100m Backstroke World Series Final 2.
- SB5 Breaststroker Laura Pilkington lowered her 50 and 100m Breaststroke records to 58.42 and 2:05.79 respectively.
- Swim – IT member Merryn Binnie also set two Scottish Records, in the SB 6 50 and 100m Breaststroke. Her times of 1:03.85 and 2:24.76 were considerable personal bests. Merryn then lowered her 50m time to 1:01.58 in the British final.
Day 3
- University of Stirling Swimmer Oliver Carter took over 2.5 seconds off his own S10 Scottish Record for 400m freestyle on the penultimate day of action from the Para Swimming World Series inc. the British Para Swimming Meet, taking place in Sheffield. Carter, who made his international debut at last year’s Para Swimming World Championships in Madeira, first broke the record during the morning heats, but further lowered the time to 4:16.65 with a blistering final swim, where he finished 12th overall in the World Series Final.
- In other events Tegan Davidson (University of Aberdeen) and Amy MacFarlane (Motherwell & Wishaw) finished the GBR final of the 200m freestyle in sixth and eighth respectively. In the Men’s 200m freestyle, Matthew Scott (University of Aberdeen) and Bjorn Aaen (Hamilton) finished the GBR final in fifth and eighth place respectively, while in the World Series 200m freestyle final, City of Glasgow Swim Team’s Louis Lawlor finished seventh overall in 2:01.67 (788 points) while Jack Milne (University of Aberdeen) finished 24th overall in 2:11.15 (629 points).
Day 4
- University of Aberdeen swimmer Faye Rogers stormed to World Series gold on the closing day of the Citi Para Swimming World Series Inc. British Para-Swimming Meet in Sheffield.
- Stephen Clegg finished as the highest Brit, touching home in sixth place in 58.35, which scored 919 points. Clegg’s time was another swim under the consideration time for the World Championships, and was a special moment as he went in the final after his brother James, who finished as the third best Brit in seventeenth.
- Louis Lawlor again bettered the Scottish Record for S14 for the 100m butterfly, finishing in 1:00.15. In the GBR final Matthew Scott (University of Aberdeen) finished in a time of 1:12.86.
- Oliver Carter broke his S10 Scottish Record for the event, finishing in 1:03.85.
If you or anyone you know is living with a disability and would like to get involved in swimming please contact admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or telephone 0131 3171130. Support is available to find the right opportunity.