The British Para Swimming International Meet took place at Tollcross International Swimming Pool from Thursday 25 – Sunday 28 April 2019. The event is one of the most important on the calendar for our para swimmers and provided a qualification opportunity for the World Championships in London later this year.
There were 32 Scottish athletes (29 based in Scotland, 3 Non-Residents who train in England) representing 21 clubs (18 Scottish & 3 English).
The event saw three Scottish athletes post the qualification standards for the World Championships which will take place in London in September.
- Stephen Clegg – S12 100m Butterfly
- Toni Shaw – S9 100m Butterfly
- Scott Quin – SB14 100m Breaststroke
The Scottish swimmers were in fine form on home soil, and none more than Scott Quin (GBR/Warrender Baths Club), who set a World Record in his favoured 100m SB14 Breaststroke event, in the heats, with a time of 1:05.28. Whilst he didn’t better that time in the final, he did secure gold in a time of 1:05.53.
After the race, Quin stated:
“I’m happy with the way I swam tonight. I’ll sit down later with Kostas (Kalitsis) and evaluate things. It was always going to be very hard to go what I went this morning which was a 65.2. The final was 65.5 and that’s the first time I’ve posted 65s twice long course. I wasn’t really expecting to go faster tonight.
“I did feel more relaxed tonight, but I do want to go away and analyse a few things and see where I can control myself a bit better. But it’s still very consistent and I’m not going to criticise myself. I’m also really happy I executed the things Kostas (coach) asked me to do. Normally my brain wonders a wee bit and I stray away from the race plan and Kostas has to pull me back from things I want to do. Overall it has been a very positive day and I feel I’ve nailed most of the target goals for this first part of the season.”
Speaking about the World Para-Swimming World Championships in September, Quin finished by saying:
“I’m excited that the Worlds will be in London. The last major event there was London 2012 Paralympics and I just missed out on that.”