News

Strachan the popular choice as Shetland�s Sportsperson of the Year 2011

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:08:00 EDT

Swimmer Andrea Strachan, who won an unprecedented four gold medals at the Island Games this summer, was named Sportsperson of the Year in the fifth annual Shetland Sports Awards.

This year�s event, much grander than in previous years, was held in the Clickimin bowls hall and attracted just under 150 guests who were also treated to a display of world-class gymastics by visiting Ukrainian stars Iryna Krasnianska and Dariya Zgoba. A gallery of photographs by Kevin Jones can be viewed here.

Andrea, who narrowly beat five medal-winning teammate and friend Amy Harper and 800m gold medallist Emma Leask to the title, received a standing ovation at the ceremony on Friday night.
Swimming coach Petur Petursson, who along with Lorraine Gifford managed the Island Games Swim Team, was named Coach of the Year. The other nominees were rugby coach Bryan Leask and netball coaches Kirsti Leask and Vicki Henderson.

Young Sportsperson of the Year was athlete Haydn Thomason, who broke the 400m record at the inter-county this year. He beat swimmer Felix Gifford and Transplant Games gold medallist Zoe Buchanan. Haydn was presented with his award by Iryna and Dariya.

Team of the Year went to Whalsay�s hockey side, who won all the silverware this year and a tournament in Kirkwall. They narrowly beat the Island Games Swim Team to the title. The other nominee was the Junior Inter-County Team.

Young Team of the Year was the Anderson High School Netball Team, winner of the Scottish schools cup. The Shetland Gymastics Team and the Shetland Under-18 Football Squad were also nominated.
There was also a standing ovation for former SIC leisure and recreation boss John Nicolson, who received the Lifetime Endeavour Award presented on behalf of the family of the late Rob Anderson.
He received the award from Rob�s widow Mary and in an emotional speech said it meant even more coming from the family of his great colleague.

Swimmer Andrea awarded national scholarship

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:51:00 EDT

Swimming star Andrea Strachan has been awarded a national sports scholarship given to Scotland’s most promising student athletes, including Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games hopefuls.

Andrea, 19, from Lerwick, four times gold medallist in this summer’s island games and a student at Edinburgh University, received the Winning Students award, which will enable her to train and continue her academic studies at the same time.

More than 120 athletes studying in colleges and universities across Scotland will receive funding support from Winning Students during the 2011/12 academic year. Awards are of up £5,500 each year, which students can put towards sporting costs and academic-related expenses. The funding ensures students receive the necessary academic flexibility for them to perform in both their sport and their studies.

Athletes are identified and nominated through partnership with nine governing bodies and the sportscotland institute of sport, while further Individual Scholarships are offered to students competing in other sports. Now in its fourth year, Winning Students has established a network of 29 Scottish colleges and universities with the capacity to support the nation’s best student athletes.

Students selected this year include swimmer Robbie Renwick from the University of Strathclyde, who is training towards the London 2012 Olympic Games, and University of Stirling maths student Marc Austin, bidding for triathlon success at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Programme co-ordinator Jason Atkins said: “Some of the most talented young athletes are currently combining their sport with study and the Winning Students scholarships recognise this. I am delighted the programme is able to support so many athletes and wish them every success.”

Island games: swimmers shine again as Strachan wins gold, Harper silver and Gifford bronze

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EDT

They did it again! Shetland’s Andrea Strachan powered her way to a remarkable

fourth gold medal in the 100m individual medley at the island games last night while Amy Harper took a second off her qualifying time in the 100m freestyle to win silver. And Shetland has its first games medal in the men’s swimming courtesy of Felix Gifford who won bronze in the 400m freestyle.

Andrea, who has had a sensational games, broke her third games record, only this time she waited until the final to record a time of 1.04.59, more than a second faster than her qualifying time of 1.05.62. Amy’s 58.15 in her final propelled her into second place after she had qualified third fastest in the heats in 59.12.

Meanwhile Felix took almost five seconds off his qualifying time to win the bronze. He had been second fastest in the heats in 4.10.94 but as the Faroe and Jersey swimmers that won gold and silver powered through he increased his pace to make Shetland swimming history.

The Shetland mixed relay team of Felix, Amy, Callum MacGregor, Craig Nicolson, Megan Petursdottir, Andrea, Jake Swanson and Sarah Williamson came fifth in the 8x50m freestyle relay while the women’s team came sixth in the 4x100m medley relay. The men came fourth in the 4x100m relay, beating their qualifying time by three seconds.

Island games: swimmer Strachan secures record third gold and Harper wins 50m freestyle

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:49:00 EDT

Shetland swimmer Andrea Strachan won an unprecedented third gold medal tonight, taking the 100m breaststroke title at the island games in the Isle of Wight. She had broken the games record in her heat earlier today in a time of 1.11.88 and once again beat her own record in the final, swimming the distance in 1.11.70.

And the sensational success of the swimmers continued when Amy Harper added to her silver and bronze medals with a gold of her own in the 50m freestyle in 27.01 and another bronze, this time in the 400m freestyle in a time of 4.23.07.

Felix Gifford continued his strong tournament with another fifth place in the final of the 100m individual medley while Callum MacGregor was fifth in the 100m freestyle.

Coach Petur Petursson described the performances of all the swimmers in the Shetland team as “sensational”. “It’s beyond belief. Everyone has performed to the absolute top of their ability.” At the end of tonight’s session the announcer said Shetland should be particuarly proud of Andrea and Amy.

Island games: second swimming gold for Strachan and bronze for Harper

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:16:00 EDT

Shetland’s women swimmers made their remarkable island games even better tonight when Andrea Strachan won a second gold medal to add to last night’s and Amy Harper, who had already won a silver, secured a bronze.

Andrea beat Guernsey’s rising star, 14-year-old Kristina Neves, in the final of the 200m individual medley in 2.20.18, a big improvement on her qualifying time this morning of 2.22.95, the fastest time in the heats. Andrea was also fifth in the final of the 200m breaststroke in 2.42.19.

Amy was third in the 800m freestyle, the longest event for the women swimmers, in 8.57.24. The event was won by Neves in 8.47.98. Amy also gained fifth place in the 50m butterfly in 30.13

In other events, the Shetland men’s 4x50m freestyle relay team of Felix Gifford, Callum MacGregor, Craig Nicolson and Jake Swanson came just a second outside the medals in a very exciting race, beating the Shetland record in the process. They were fourth behind Faroe, Guernsey and Jersey.

Felix Gifford came fifth in the men’s 200m freestyle in 1.58.13 and fifth in the 100m butterfly in 58.97.

Island games: double medal success for Shetland as swimmers Strachan and Harper win gold and silver

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:03:00 EDT

Shetland swimmer Andrea Strachan won gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke at the island games tonight, breaking the tournament record for the distance for the second time in one day, while Amy Harper took silver in the 200m freestyle.

Andrea had been the fastest qualifier in the event earlier today at the Isle of Wight’s Medina Leisure Centre in a time of 32.59 seconds – the previous record was 33.18 – but managed to beat her own time by just 0.02 seconds, touching ahead of Laura Kinley and Poppy Evans from the Isle of Man.

Amy came just over a second behind the first placed swimmer, Kristina Neves from Guernsey, in a time of 2.03.11. Amy also qualified for the 400m individual medley final.

Felix Gifford, who was the fourth fastest qualifier in the men’s 200m butterfly in a time of 2.09.73, bettered his time to 2.08.66 but missed out on a medal by one place. Felix also made it into the final of the 200m individual medley where he came fifth.

Both the Shetland relay teams made it into the finals. Amy Harper, Andrea Strachan, Sarah Williamson and Megan Petursdottir were third fastest in the heats 4x50m freestyle and came a creditable fifth in 1.52.50. In the men’s 4×50 medley, Felix Gifford, Craig Nicolson, Jake Swanson and Callum MacGregor also came fifth in 1.51.55.

Medals on Day 1!

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:48:00 EDT

So it's the end of day 1 of the swimming in this years Island Games.
We started off the day with Donnie Price coming 6th in the 1500 in a brilliant time of, 17:11.25.
Next up was the girls 400 IM with Amy Harper and Megan Petursdottir. Amy getting a wonderful 6 second PB while Megan also smashes her time.
So with excitement running high we move onto the boys 200m Butterfly. The 200 fly being on of the hardest faces our boys, Callum Magregor and Felix Gifford fought well with both getting PB’s and Felix being less than a second away from bronze medal position. Felix came 4^th while Callum drove it home in 6^th place.
Following this was the girls 100 Fly. Swimming for Shetland was Arwen Raikes and Jessica Swanson. Both competed well to get good times.
Jake Swanson and Craig Nicolson were up next in the 100 Breaststroke, both finishing with excellent times.
Moving onto the Highlight of the

day was Andrea Strachern’s Gold Medal win in the 50 Breastroke, braking the 1999 record in her heat she went on to smash that again by over half a second in the final. An amazing performance!

Sarah Williamson, one of the younger swimmers on the team was also in the 50 Breatstoke finishing in 8^th place.
Donnie Price up again along with Calum Maccoll in the boys 50 back both swam well to get just under their PB’s.
Amy Harper steps on to to the block to take the second medal for Shetland in the swimming for Monday, swimming a great 200 Freestyle to finish in silver medal position, also smashing the Island Games record in the process and her own PB.
Felix and Craig up again, this time for the 200 IM, both finishing just outside their PB’s but Felix still getting in the finals and finishing in 5^th place.
And now the relays. The relays are always the most exciting part of the swimming events, and the atmosphere is very intense.
First up was the Girls 4 x 50m Freestyle relay, finishing in 5^th place and all swimming excellent legs of their relay.
The boys relay up last swam a 4 x 50 Medley. They all swam great legs and also finished in 5^th place.
So overall an excellent start for the competition.

Andrea Strachan wins bronze medal

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:37:00 EDT

Andrea Strachan won the bronze medal in the 50 metre breaststroke at the British Gas Amateur Swimming Association National championships being held at the Pond Forge leisure centre in Sheffield on the 14th of June.

Andrea started the day in fine form qualifying for the finals as the seventh fastest qualifier from the morning heats. She knew she would have to be at her best last night’s final, and she certainly did not disappoint. With only six tenths of a second seperating the top swimmers, Andrea’s time of 32.59 seconds smashed her previous best.

Today it is Amy Harper’s turn. She will go in the heats of the 100 metre freestyle and on Thursday morning both girls will be in action, Andrea in the 100 metre breaststroke and Amy in the 50 metre freestyle.

Live results can be seen on www.swimming.org and follow the link

SSA NatWest Island Games Swimming Raffle Winner

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:10:00 EDT

Allan Umphray the Natwest Island Games swimming raffle prize winner, with Craig Nicolson and Callum Macgregor.

We would like to thank Northlink for their generous donation of the prize which helped raise £2,202 for Swim Team going to Isle of Wight.

Swimming duo taking part in national championships in Sheffield

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:46:00 EDT

Swimmers Andrea Strachan from Lerwick and Amy Harper from Gulberwick are competing in this week’s Amateur Swimming Association National Championships (ASAs) at the Pond Forge Leisure Centre in Sheffield.

The event is the second biggest in the British swimming calendar, preceded only by the British Championships which were held in March. There Andrea made her mark by reaching the final of the 50m breaststroke.

This year’s ASAs is the final chance for Britain’s top swimmers to secure their seat on the plane to this summer’s World Championships in Shanghai.

This is the biggest event for which Amy has achieved qualification, an outstanding achievement. She will be competing in the 50m freestyle and the 100m freestyle. With most of Britain’s top swimmers in attendance just qualifying to take part is a major achievement.

The event starts tomorrow morning with Andrea in the hearts of the 50m breaststroke. On Wednesday Amy is in the heats of the 100m freestyle, while on Thursday both girls will be involved in the heats, Amy in the 50m freestyle and Andrea in the 100m breaststroke.

Golden Amy warms up for island games in style with medal haul at Glasgow open

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:18:00 EDT

With the island games just around the corner Gulberwick swimmer Amy Harper’s form in the pool continues to go from strength to strength.

At the East District Open at the Toll Cross Leisure Centre in Glasgow at the weekend she won gold in the 50 metres freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle.

On day one in the 50m freestyle Amy qualified for the final as third fastest qualifier. In the final she went over a second faster than she did in the heats to set a new personal best and take the gold with an outstanding time of 27.41.

The heats of the 100m freestyle saw all the top swimmers at the event swim slower than one minute, and Amy went into the final as the third fastest qualifier. In the final she went almost three seconds faster than she had done in the heats, a PB of 58.65 and the gold number two of the day.

The 400m freestyle saw gold number three of the day and another PB of 4.27.77.

Day two saw the gold rush continue as Amy claimed the gold in both the 200m and 800m freestyle events, a dominant performance from the 19-year-old.

Amy’s highlight of the weekend was the 50m freestyle, made even sweeter by the fact she achieved what is known as an ASA time. That means she will travel to Sheffield to take part in the British Gas ASA National Championships from 14th to 17th June.

Nicolson breaks the 30-second barrier at swimming meet

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:44:00 EDT

A first milestone for every young competitive swimmer is to go under 30 seconds in the 50 metres freestyle, and at the weekend 13-year-old Chloe Nicolson of the Lerwick Swim Team did just that.

She was competing at the Westhill Enquest invitational meet and her time of 29.81 was an outstanding achievement. She finished 13th out of 76 swimmers in what was an open event with swimmers ages ranging from 12 to 41 years old.

Chloe’s team mate Megan Petursdottir, 14, finished 10th in this event, bizarrely equalling her best time to the 100th of a second with 29.05. Her frustration was evident as she had set out to go under the 29 seconds.

The event was a mixture of age group and open events, with all the 50m events being open, and both girls got their weekend off to a great start in the 200m freestyle.

Chloe, competing in the 12-13 years age group, had a four-second improvement which saw her go under two minutes 30 seconds for the first time. Megan, competing in the 14-15 age group, recorded a four-second improvement to go under 2:20.

In the 100m breaststroke Megan swam just slower than her best time.

Both girls took part in the women’s open 50m butterfly, Chloe recorded a PB while Megan swam just outside her best but was still good enough to finish 10th overall from a field of 76.

In the Saturday afternoon session, Megan improved on her best time in the 200m breaststroke by four seconds, and followed that with a two-second improvement in the 400 freestyle.

In the 100m freestyle both girls were just outside their best times. Chloe in the 50m backstroke swam just outside her best.

On day two both girls started off in fine form. There was a 4.5 second improvement in the 200m backstroke for Chloe while Megan had a slight improvement on her 200 individual medley time.

In the 50m open breaststroke Megan was a few tenths of a second slower than her best and in the 100m individual medley Chloe once again improved her time by one second.
The swimmers said they would like to thank Lesley Moir and the Westhill Swimming Club, plus all the officials who continually give up their valuable time.

Price wins third medal in swimming age group nationals

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:43:00 EDT

Shetland swimmer Donnie Price continued his outstanding form in the distance events of the Scottish National Age Group Championships in Glasgow with his third visit to the podium to collect a bronze medal for a fantastic performance in the 800m freestyle.

Amy Harper qualified for the finals of the 200m freestyle as the sixth fastest qualifier. In the final she improved her placing to fifth place and a four second personal best time.

Donnie Price and Felix Gifford were once again in action in the evening finals as was Sarah Williamson. Donnie performed well in the final of the 200m backstroke as did Felix in the final of the 100m butterfly while Sarah fought hard in the final of the 200m breaststroke to finish sixth.

Special mention must be made of Eddie Price from South Mainland and Logan Jamieson from Delting Dolphins. Both were competing in their first nationals. Eddie was one of the few swimmers to qualify for all 12 events of the championships. Also competing for the Dolphins was Calum McCall.

Early success for swimmers at Scottish Age Group Championships in Glasgow

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:42:00 EDT

Isles swimmers Donnie Price and Andrea Strachan won silver and bronze medals respectively on the first day of the Scottish National Age Group Championships in Glasgow.

Donnie took silver yesterday in the 1,500 metres freestyle for 14-year-old boys, while Andrea finished third in the 10m breastroke for 16-18 girls.

The pair are among 10 Shetland swimmers at the Tollcross Leisure Centre and are joined by Amy Harper, Callum MacGregor, Megan Petursdottir and Sarah Williamson from Lerwick team, Felix Gifford, Calum MacCall and Logan Jamieson from Delting Dolphins and Donnie’s brother Eddie from South Mainland.

Donnie had a fight on his hands and came from behind to secure the second place while Amy put in a personal best performace in the morning’s 400m freestyle, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal.

Andrea narrowly missed out on the silver medal with City of Aberdeen Swimmer Hayley Monteith touching just ahead. The event was won Corrie Scott from South Lanarkshire who will be joining the Edinburgh University team next year where Andrea now does most of her training.

In the final of the 16-18 years 200m butterfly, 16-year-old Felix Gifford narrowly missed out on a place on the podium. Turning for the last 50m in fifth place Felix’s sheer determination saw him pull back to fourth at the finish, losing out on the bronze by just three tenths of a second.

Felix and Callum Macgregor went head to head in the final of the 100m freestyle, and on this occasion Felix narrowly beat Callum by just two-tenths of a second to finish fifth with Callum sixth.

In the final of the 14 years boys’ 100m freestyle Donnie put in a gutsy performance. He was placed ninth going into the final and was unable to improve on this placing although he recorded a faster time.

Sarah narrowly missed out on the medals in the final of the girls’ 13 years 100m breaststroke. She got off to a fantastic start and was just beaten into third place by Ruth Gordon from the Isle of Skye.

Megan had set herself a goal of reaching one final and she did that on day one, qualifying for the final of the 14 years girls’ 100m breaststroke. Her 10th place finish in the final was a great achievement for the 14-year-old.

Silver medal for Donnie Price in national swimming championships

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:41:00 EDT

Shetland swimmer Donnie Price won the silver medal in the 1500m freestlye at the Scottish National Age Group Championships in Glasgow this afternoon.

Donnie, who is competing in the 14-year-old age group, had a fight on his hands and came from behind to secure the second place. Amy Harper put in a personal best performace in the morning’s 400m freestyle, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal.

The pair are among 10 swimmers at the event in the Tollcross Leisure Centre and are joined by Andrea Strachan, Callum MacGregor, Megan Petursdottir and Sarah Williamson from Lerwick Swim Team, Felix Gifford, Calum MacCall and Logan Jamieson from Delting Dolphins and Donnie’s brother Eddie from South Mainland.

Andrea Strachan will go into this evening’s final as the second fastest qualifier in the 16-18 year olds 100m breaststroke. Callum Macgregor and Felix Gifford have also qualified for evening finals in the 100m freestyle. Felix will also contest the 200m butterfly final, for which he is the fourth fastest qualifier.

Sarah Williamson and Megan Petursdottir will also be in finals action this evening, Sarah in the 13-year-old girls’ 100m breaststroke and Megan in the 14-year-old girls’ 100m breaststroke.

Andrea makes final of British national swimming championships in Manchester

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:41:00 EDT

Swimmer Andrea Strachan qualified for the final of the 50 metres breaststroke at the British Championships in Manchester at the weekend.

She was the first Shetland competitor to swim at the event, which began on Friday morning with the heats.

Andrea qualified as ninth fastest to take her place among the 16 swimmers in the evening’s semi-finals, where she produced another fine performance, coming third in her race and qualifying for Saturday’s final.

In the final Andrea finished in eighth place, an incredible achievement from the 18-year-old from Lerwick. She learned to swim at the Shetland Amateur Competitive Swimming Club, then trained with the Lerwick Swim Team until last year when she went to study at Edinburgh University where she joined the team there.

Lerwick head coach Petur Petursson said: “The Lerwick Swim Team squad have been on a high all weekend with great excitement at Andrea’s success. We are looking forward to welcoming Andrea home at the start of the easter holidays when she will be training with the squad at the Clickimin Leisure Centre. She will then travel with us and represent Lerwick at the Scottish National Age Group Championships this April.”

Strachan is first isles swimmer to make British Swimming Championships

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:39:00 EDT

Lerwick swimmer Andrea Strachan has become the first Shetland competitor to achieve a qualifying time for the British Swimming Championships, held in Manchester from 5th to 12th March.

Representing Edinburgh University, her time of 33.36 seconds in the 50 metres breaststroke saw her take the silver medal at the British University Championships in Sheffield at the weekend.

During the event Andrea also qualified for the final of the 100m breaststroke, finishing fifth, and the 50m freestyle where she came ninth.

Meanwhile Amy Harper was in fine form at the Edinburgh International, held at the Toll Cross Leisure Centre in Glasgow due to the ongoing refurbishment of the Royal Commonwealth Pool in the capital.

In the final of the 100m freestyle Amy took the silver medal. She was beaten by Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimmer Hannah Miley but finished head of Corry Scott form East Kilbride, also a member of the Scottish Commonwealth Games team.

In the 50m freestyle Amy narrowly missed out on a podium finish by 0.01 of a second.

Amy was also in top form a week earlier when she took the gold in the 800m freestyle at the East District Championships in Glenrothes.

Brae boys win national swimming titles in Glasgow

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:45:00 EDT

Brae High School pupils Felix Gifford and Calum Maccoll were both crowned national champions at the weekend’s Scottish Schools swimming finals in Glasgow.

Felix was up first in the 100 metres butterfly. Taking the first 50m at a steady pace, he turned on the speed for the second hundred to power to the finish to take the silver medal, missing out on the gold by less than a second.

Calum swam the 200m freestyle in the second session and like his team mate he did a well-paced first 100m and then put the pressure on the other competitors in the final 100m, pulling further and further away to win his first Scottish national title by four seconds.

The last session saw Felix swim his favourite event, the 200m butterfly, and after again pacing the first 100m well he powered away in the second 100m to win Brae’s second national title of the meet. In the process he set a new open Shetland record with 2.08.85, over three seconds better than the previous best.

The last event was swum by Calum in the 100m freestyle. Again in a very close race he was just touched out into third place.

Both swimmers said they would like to thank the Brae High School for supporting them in the national finals, and giving them the chance to show Scotland what talent there was at the Shetland school.

Scottish bronze medal for Lerwick swimmer Andrea

Thu, 26 May 2011 09:31:00 EDT

13Lerwick swimmer Andrea Strachan has become the first Shetlander to win a medal at senior level at a national championships.

She took the bronze medal in the 50 metres breaststroke final at the Scottish National Championships at Glasgow’s Toll Cross Leisure Centre at the weekend.

Andrea qualified in third place, a position she held in the final, just missing out on going under 33 seconds. She now trains and competes for Edinburgh University where she is now a member of the performance squad.

Head coach Chris Jones said: “Andrea’s medal at the Scottish championships was fantastic. She has not only worked hard in the pool and gym over the last few months but worked hard at her lifestyle and adapting to leaving home and settling in Edinburgh. I am delighted with the way Andrea has started her swimming in Edinburgh and I am sure she will have a bright future in the sport.”

Andrea was also in the final of the 100m breaststroke qualifying in seventh place. There she finished in ninth place, another fine performance. In the 100m individual medley she finished in a credible eighth.

Commonwealth medallist and Olympian to come to Shetland

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:11:00 EDT

This is for Alan Lynn's next training visit:

Alan Lynn is a highly experienced coach who was Technical Director of Scottish Swimming and has coached swimmers up to Olympic level. He is currently Senior Teaching Fellow in Sports Coaching at the University of Stirling. For this visit Andy Hunter who represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and 2010, winning 2 silver medals, and Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will accompany him.

Islanders win swimming medals in Inverness

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:12:00 EDT

Four swimmers from the Lerwick team travelled to Inverness at the weekend to compete in the Aberdeen Dolphins Mitchell Trophy.

A strong line-up had gathered, including teams from Edinburgh University, East Lothian Swim Team, Falkirk and Cumbernauld, as well as a strong representation from the North District.

Callum MacGregor, 17, was in great form in the 15 and over age group, winning a silver medal in the 100m freestyle, bronze in the 50m freestyle and bronze in the 100m butterfly. He narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the 200m freestyle, a personal best only being good enough for fourth place.

Sarah Williamson, 13, competing in the 13/14 age group and recovering from an elbow injury, dug deep in the 200m breaststroke. Finishing on her best time would have been good enough for the bronze medal but she was shocked to discover she had been disqualified for a technical infringement. That did not deter her as in the final of her favourite event, the 100m breaststroke, she put the disappointment behind her to take the bronze with almost a two-second PB. She was beaten by two 14-year-old girls from East Lothian and Falkirk.

Craig Nicolson, competing in the 15 and over group, was on good form and celebrated his 16th birthday during the competition. He was one of the younger competitors in the 15 and over event and did well to qualify for two finals, finishing fifth in the 100m breaststroke with a PB.

In the 50m freestyle final he finished a creditable seventh, in the 200m breaststroke he narrowly missed out on podium finishing fourth and in the 400m freestyle he gained a very creditable fifth. The 200m freestyle saw Craig’s biggest improvement by almost breaking the two-minute barrier with close to a four second improvement.

Also competing in the 13/14 group, Megan Petursdottir was in fine form in the 100m events, although not able to achieve quite the same performances from a week earlier at the Shetland championships where the newly-turned 14-year-old left the opposition in her wake. Her best performance came in the 100m freestyle, finishing in a time of 1.03.80.

She produced an 18-second PB in the 800m freestyle, a 16-seconds improvement in the 400m freestyle and just missed out on going under 29 seconds by five one-hundredths of a second in the 50m freestyle.

Head coach Petur Petursson said: “I am extremely pleased with the guys’ performances. It is always good to see podium finishes. However, the aim of this meet was not for the purposes of collecting gongs but to allow some of Shetland’s top swimmers to compete at the very highest level where they would have to be at their very best.

“It was also an opportunity for me to have their races videoed and over the coming days will allow us to review the races and hopefully make the improvements required to continue being competitive at this level in 2011.

“Thanks must go to Sheila Williamson and Davie Riddell for looking after us so well and to all the officials for giving up their time.”

Petursdottir and Gifford too good to beat in swimming championships

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:32:00 EDT

Megan Petursdottir (Shetland) and Felix Gifford (Delting Dolphins) dominated Shetland Swimming Association’s age group championships on Sunday at Clickimin.

Megan won every girls’ open event and also her own age group. Her closest race was the breaststroke where she was neck and neck with team mate Sarah Williamson who she just touched out.

Felix won all the boys’ open events and his age group and like Megan the closest of his races was the breaststroke where he battled with Lerwick’s Craig Nicolson, just taking the gold in a new Shetland age group record time of 1.10.23. He also broke the Shetland record in the 100m backstroke with 1.02.45.

The girls’ 11/12 age group saw Chloe Nicolson (Lerwick) winning backstroke, freestyle and individual medley, giving her the championship. Emmie Hutchison (LK) won the 100m butterfly and Cara Steven (South Mainland) the breaststroke.

In the boys’ 11/12championship Eddie Price (SM) won four out of the five events with Scott Irvine (DD) winning the breaststroke.

Megan won the 13/14 age group and Donnie Price (SM) convincingly won the boys’ championship for this age group, winning all the events.

Jessika Swanson (DD) won the 15/16 age group, taking all the events, while Felix won the boys’ event.

In the oldest age group, 17 and over, Rachel Southern (DD) took the honours for the girls and Callum MacGregor for the boys.

Special mention should go to Sophie Morris (SM) who was time trialling in this event and managed to break the Shetland 10 years records for the backstroke and freestyle.

Full results
Girls 11/12 – 100m butterfly: 1 Emmie Hutchison (LK); 2 Vhairi Davies (SM); 3 Kate Jones (SH).
100m backstroke: 1 Chloe Nicolson (LK); 2 Vhairi Davies (SM); 3 Kayleigh Anderson (SH).
200m IM: 1 Chloe Nicolson (LK); 2 Kate Jones (SH); 3 Emmie Hutchison (LK).
100m breaststroke: 1 Cara Steven (SM); 2 Chloe Nicolson (LK); 3 Anne Hutchison (LK).
100m freestyle: 1 Chloe Nicolson (LK); 2 Emmie Hutchison (LK); 3 Anne Hutchison (LK).
Boys 11/12 – 100m butterfly: 1 Eddie Price (SM); 2 Logan Jamieson (DD); 3 Zevf Vessey (DD).
100m backstroke: 1 Eddie Price (SM); 2 Zevf Vessey (DD); 3 James Morris (SM).
200m IM: 1 Eddie Price (SM); 2 James Morris (SM); 3 Scott Irvine (DD).
100m breaststroke: 1 Scott Irvine (DD); 2 Eddie Price (SM); 3 James Morris (SM).
100m freestyle: 1 Eddie Price (SM); 2 James Morris (SM); 3 Zevf Vessey (DD).
Girls 13/14 – 100m butterfly: 1 Megan Petursdottir (SH); Arwen Raikes (DD); 3 Sarah Williamson (SH).
100m backstroke: 1 Megan Petursdottir (SH); 2 Arwen Raikes (DD); 3 Kirsty Laurenson (SM).
200m IM: 1 Megan Petursdottir (SH); 2 Sarah Williamson (SH); 3 Arwen Raikes (DD).
100m breaststroke: 1 Megan Petursdottir (SH); 2 Sarah Williamson (SH) 3 Sarah Keay (SM).
100m freestyle: 1 Megan Petursdottir (SH); 2 Arwen Raikes (DD); 3 Kirsty Laurenson (SM).
Boys 13/14 – 100m butterfly: 1 Donnie Price (SM); 2 Calum Maccoll (DD); 3 Michael Southern (DD).
100m backstroke: 1 Donnie Price (SM); 2 Calum Maccoll (DD); 3 Michael Southern (SM).
200m IM: 1 Donnie Price (SM); 2 Calum Maccoll (DD); 3 Darin Eldridge (SM).
100m breaststroke: 1 Donnie Price (SM); 2 Calum Maccoll (DD); 3 Gregor Moore (DD).
100m freestyle: 1 Donnie Price (SM); 2 Calum Maccoll (DD); 3 Gregor Moore (DD).
Girls 15/16 – 100m butterfly: 1 Jessika Swanson (DD).
100m backstroke: 1 Jessika Swanson (DD).
200m IM: 1 Jessika Swanson (DD).
100m breaststroke: 1 Jessika Swanson (DD).
100m freestyle: 1 Jessika Swanson (DD).
Boys15/16 – 100m butterfly: 1 Felix Gifford (DD); 2 Craig Nicolson (LK); 3 Jake Swanson (DD).
100m backstroke: 1 Felix Gifford (DD); 2 Craig Nicolson (LK); 3 Jake Swanson (DD).
200m IM: 1 Felix Gifford (DD); 2 Craig Nicolson (LK); 3 Jake Swanson (DD).
100m breaststroke: 1 Felix Gifford (DD); 2 Craig Nicolson (LK); 3 Jake Swanson (DD).
100m freestyle: 1 Felix Gifford (DD); 2 Craig Nicolson (LK); 3 Jake Swanson (DD).
Girls 17 and over – 100m butterfly: 1 Rachel Southern (DD).
100m backstroke: 1 Rachel Southern (DD).
200m IM: 1 Rachel Southern (DD); 2 Jan Price (SM).
100m breaststroke: 1 Rachel Southern (DD); 2 Jan Price (SM).
100m freestyle: 1 Rachel Southern (DD); 2 Jan Price (SM).
Boys 17 and over – 100m butterfly: 1 Callum MacGregor (LK).
100m backstroke: 1 Calum MacGregor (LK).

Gifford wins junior 100m freestyle at Scottish Open

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:51:00 EDT

A group of Shetland swimmers took part in the six-day British Gas Scottish Open Championships last week, with the highlight being Felix Gifford of Delting Dolphins winning the junior 100 metres freestyle.

This year the championships doubled as a Commonwealth Games trial with British and Scottish stars including Rebecca Adlington, Jo Jackson, Hannah Miley, Robbie Renwick and David Carry.

Among the Shetland contingent were South Mainland’s Donnie Price, Lerwick’s Megan Petursdottir and Delting’s Calum MacColl who were competing for the first time at this level of competition.

Felix, 16, started the week by reaching the B final of the 200m butterfly in a new Shetland record and was reserve for the 400m freestyle. In the final of the butterfly he was placed 17th.

The following day he broke the Shetland 50m butterfly record with 27.02 and was on his PB for the 200m freestyle. On day three he broke the 15-16 Shetland record in the 100m freestyle and was awarded the junior championship.

In the afternoon’s 16-and-under group Felix reached the final of the 200m backstroke, won gold in the 400m freestyle and smashed the Shetland record with 4.04.08.

The following morning Felix took the Shetland record in the 100m butterfly and reached the open finals. However, he withdrew from this so he could concentrate on his age group in which he also reached the final. The evening saw him in the finals of the 200m freestyle and 200m IM and he took bronze in both, while he finished fourth in the 200m IM final to gain a British qualifying time.

On Saturday Felix was fifth in the 400m IM, gaining a British qualifying time. But it was in the 200m butterfly that he showed his class, leading from the beginning to win in a new Shetland record of 2.09.21 and his third gold. On the last day he was reserve for the final for the 100m backstroke and came sixth in the final of the 200m breaststroke.

Fellow Delting Dolphin Jake Swanson also did very well, making the open 50m breaststroke event for the first time where he swam on his PB. Special mention should go to his excellent swims in his ever-improving 100m backstroke and 400m IM.

Tom Raikes, swimming for the last time at this level of competition, did a PB in the 100m butterfly and all his other swims were on his PBs. The last of the Delting squad was Calum Maccoll who coped very well with the pressure to get some long-course PBs.

The Lerwick swimmers also did very well. Andrea Strachan’s performance in the heats of the 50m breaststroke saw her finish 10th and qualify for the semi-finals. Megan Petursdottir produced a PB and Callum MacGregor put in a solid performance in the 50m backstroke.

In the evening’s semi-final of the 50m breaststroke Andrea was unable to improve on her morning performance and finished 13th.

On Wednesday Andrea arrived to discover she had in fact made the final of the 50m breaststroke. Amy Harper swam well in the heats of the 100m freestyle to qualify for the semi-final while Callum did a PB in the 200m freestyle.

Andrea Strachan produced a good performance in the final of the 50m breaststroke. Starting as the 10th fastest qualifier, her solid swim saw her finish ninth.

Amy put in an excellent performance in the semi-final of the 100m freestyle to qualify for the final as 10th fastest qualifier and she topped that by finishing eighth in the final.

Callum was in fine form, qualifying for the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle. Up against Scotland’s top sprinters, the 17-year-old did well to finish 20th.

Sarah Williamson and Megan were both competing in the age group event in the 200m breaststroke and both girls swam just outside their PBs.

On Friday Andrea struggled to find her form of late in the heats of the 100m breaststroke but she managed to qualify for the semi-final. Amy and Andrea took part in the 50m freestyle heats and Amy made it into the semi-final.

Callum produced a good swim in the 100m butterfly just outside his best. His time equalled that of another swimmer and so he had a swim-off to see who would be the reserve for the semi-finals. This time he improved his PB.

In the semi-final of the 100m breaststroke Andrea failed to qualify for the final.

Possibly the best performance of the day came from Amy in the semi-final of the 50m freestyle, lining up against some of Britain’s best sprinters, where she produced a PB to qualify for Saturday’s final.

Sarah and Megan swam the 100m breaststroke. Megan swam well but it was 13 year-old Sarah who reached the final, where she finished 8th. Megan also swam in the age group event in the 200m IM, getting a PB.

On Saturday Callum lined up in the heats of the 50m freestyle. His best swim of the week saw him break his own Shetland record to qualify for the semi-final. Megan swam the 100m freestyle and achieved a PB.

In the semi-final Callum broke the Shetland record for the second time in 10 hours, but this was not quite fast enough to make the final.

First-timer Donnie Price, 13, from South Mainland, swam nine events over four days in the boys 16-and-under age group and got PBs in all but two races.

As well as improving times in nearly all his swims Donnie moved up the rankings from his seeded position in the heats. A two-second improvement in his 200m freestyle and a time of 2.09.29 placed him in the top third of the field of 125 competitors.

In the 200m IM, with over 100 competitors, Donnie again took off over two seconds and leapt up 30 places to finish in the top half. His highest finishing position in the age group events was 31st out of 74 in the 200m breaststroke with a four-second PB of 2.50.83.

Donnie also qualified for one open event as the youngest competitor in the 1,500m freestyle. Using experience gained in recent months, he swam the second half of the race faster than the first half, finishing with a strong final 100m and cutting eight seconds off his PB with 17.47.23.

Swimmers in Glasgow for championships

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:51:00 EDT

Several of Shetland’s top swimmers were at the Tollcross Leisure Centre in Glasgow this week for the Scottish National Open Swimming Champ ion ships.

The strong field included double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington. This year’s event is also the Scottish trials for the Common wealth Games in Delhi in October.

Lerwick swimmer Andrea Strachan was in Tuesday morning’s heats of the 50m breaststroke, where she finished 10th and qualified for the semi-finals. Megan Petursdottir, in her first ever national open championships, produced a personal best.

Felix Gifford of Delting Dolphins qualified for the B final of the 200m butterfly, and is a reserve for the final of the 400m freestyle. Fellow Dolphin Tom Raikes swam just outside his PBs in both the 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly.

In the evening’s semi-final of the 50m breaststroke Andrea was unable to improve on her morning performance, finishing in 13th place. “Although my stroke felt great in the warm-up for some reason during the race it just didn’t,” she said.

Felix Gifford improved his time from the morning’s heats in the B final of the 200m butterfly to finish 17th overall, a great performance from the young Delt.

On day two Andrea arrived at the centre to discover she had actually made the final of the 50m breast stroke. She put in a good performance, starting as 10th qualifier, and improved by one place to finish ninth.

Amy swam well in the heats and semi-final of the 100m freestyle to qualify for the evening’s final, Callum produced a PB in the 200m freestyle and Felix Gifford performed well in the 50m butterfly and 200m freestyle.

Medal-winning performances from Lerwick swimmers at open championships

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:48:00 EDT

The Lerwick swimming team’s fine form continued at the weekend’s North District Open Championships at Westhill in Aberdeenshire.

On Saturday Craig Nicolson’s stunning performance and seven-second personal best time saw him take the silver medal in the men’s 400m freestyle.

Amy Harper took the gold in the women’s 50m freestyle and silver in the 200m freestyle, while Andrea Strachan narrowly missed out on gold in the 100m breaststroke, taking the silver medal.

For the first time in many years Lerwick fielded a girls’ relay team in the 4×50 freestyle and Amy Harper got the team off to a cracking start, taking a commanding lead. Thirteen-year-old Megan Petursdottir was next and held her own as a City of Aberdeen swimmer closed the gap.

As Nicole Petursdottir took over she had a lot of work to do to keep the team in contention, and as Andrea set off on the final leg the gold medal had slid out of reach. The on-form Andrea dug deep to finish in second place and a well-deserved silver medal for the Lerwick girls.

On day two Amy Harper continued her good form, taking silver in the women’s 800m freestyle. She went on to take the silver in the 100m backstroke and finished off a stunning weekend with gold in the 50m freestyle with Andrea taking the bronze.

Craig’s PB in the 100m breaststroke of 1.10.69 broke the Shetland record subject to ratification. This record was previously held by Kevin Gifford.

The relay girls took their second silver medal in the 4×50 medley relay. Fourteen-year-old Megan Nicolson went first in the backstroke leg where she held her own, Andrea Strachan then set off on the breaststroke leg, taking a narrow lead for Nicole’s fly where she looked to be in good form. It was left to Amy to swim the anchor leg, with another gutsy performance from Shetland’s number one female freestyler taking the team to its second relay silver.

It was a busy weekend for some of Lerwick’s younger squad as they travelled to Dundee for the Stars of the Future Swimming Gala.

Chloe Nicolson took part in the 12 years age group and Emmy and Anne Hutchison in the 11 years. In the final of the 100m freestyle Chloe took the gold medal – the time of 1.06.20 will give many older Shetland girl swimmers something to think about. Anne took bronze in the 50m breaststroke final and her sister Emmie also produced some good PBs.

Lerwick swimmers net six gold, 10 silver and seven bronze medals

Mon, 10 May 2010 18:48:00 EDT

Five swimmers from the Lerwick team returned with six gold, 10 silver and seven bronze medals from the weekend’s Westhill Invitational meet in Aberdeenshire.

They also recorded 31 personal best times at the event, which attracts some of the top competitors from the North District as well as some of Dundee City Aquatics’ finest swimmers.

Amy Harper and Andrea Strachan competed in the 16-and-over age group on day one and got the medal haul under way immediately. Amy took gold with a lifetime best performance in the 200 metes freestyle while Andrea took the bronze, also with lifetime best performance.

Scottish national age group breaststroke champion Sarah Williamson, 12, was competing in the 12-13 age group, and she took the gold in both 100m and 200m breaststroke events. Thirteen-year-old Megan Petursdottir finished a creditable fifth.

Andrea swam a lifetime best time in the 100m breaststroke to take the silver, beaten to the gold medal by Olympic swimmer Hannah Miley.

Amy and Andrea were also in action in the final of the 100m freestyle, where this time both girls were up against Miley. Amy took the silver medal while Andrea finished a close third to take the bronze.

Amy also took silver in the 400m freestyle with a 12-second improvement on her previous best time.

Callum Macgregor continued his fine form in the 16-and-over 100m freestyle, taking the silver medal, and then went on to take silver in the 50m butterfly.

Megan finished a creditable fifth in the final of the 100m breastroke, while in the 100m freestyle her time of 1.05.59 was a four-second improvement on her PB.

Day two saw more success, beginning in the 200m individual medley where Andrea won the silver with Amy taking the bronze.

In the 100m IM Andrea produced a personal best performance to reach the final where she took silver, while the final of the 200m backstroke saw her take yet another silver.

Andrea and Amy went head to head in the finals of the 100m backstroke and freestyle. Amy took silver in the 100m backstroke with Andrea taking bronze, and in the freestyle again Amy took silver and Andrea bronze. Callum Macgregor won gold in the 100m butterfly and bronze in the 50m freestyle.

Megan Petursdottir also performed extremely well, coming back from a back injury. She swam in 16 races, three of them finals, and achived seven PBs.

Sarah Williamson achieved a PB in the 100m IM and narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the 50m breaststroke.

Coach Petur Petursson said: “It was a stunning performance from all.”

Delting Dolphins at Inverness Graded Meet

Wed, 05 May 2010 18:33:00 EDT

It was an intense and exciting day last Saturday as many of the younger Delting Dolphin Swimmers competed in their first away gala.

The morning began on a high with the boys 10 and under 50m freestyle. Bowen Ratter swam an amazing race to touch first gaining him his first gold medal. His teammate Iain leech, who was just a second behind touched in bronze medal position. Both gained good PBs.

Following on next was Faye Perry and Kayleigh Thomson in the same event, but for the girls. Faye swam well, with Kayleigh touching just inside her PB.

Moving onto the girls 11/12 age group was Megan Perry to swim out strong from the start and come back to finish with a 10 second PB in her 100m backstroke.

Natasha Wishart then went onto swim the 100m Breaststroke gaining a good five second PB.

Before long, the boys were up again for the backstroke. Iain did well to touch in bronze medal position along with Bowen who hammered the race through to the finish to gain another Gold medal.

For the girls Faye swam her best race getting a good Personal Best time. She was closely followed by her sister, Megan, in the 100 freestyle to get yet another 10-second PB. Natasha�s next race was the 100m IM in which she got a good PB.

The final event in the morning for the boys was the 50m butterfly where Bowen Ratter went so fast he earned a speeding ticket. Iain and Faye both swan well in their race to gain them good competitive experience, as did Megan in her 100m IM and Natasha in the 100m Backstroke.

After a quick refuel at lunchtime, we were back in the pool for session two.

Bowen started us off with another medal, bronze this time, in the 100m IM also getting him a PB. Iain swam well to touch just outside his time. Kayleigh Thomson followed with a tremendous effort gaining her a four second PB and just 0.5 away from a Bronze.

Just as the atmosphere in the group intensified, it was Megan. She thrived of this and during her 100m breaststroke, she got a 32 second PB touching in a 1-46.33 and winning herself a speeding ticket.

With the excitement high, Natasha went through her 100m Fly in 1-35.32, a 6 second PB and a Gold medal!

Bowen, Iain and Faye followed this and performed well in their Breaststroke. Meanwhile Kayleigh took full advantage of her race to perform a fabulous swim, with a 4-second PB and just missing the bronze again! � This time by just 0.2 of a second!

Megan swam well in her 100m butterfly which was a tough race.

The Final Highlight of the Day was Natasha�s 100m Freestyle. It was an exciting race from start to finish, just behind the lead swimmer she touched in silver position after seeing her support on the last length.

Overall, the group performed well with three Gold�s, one Silver, three Bronzes and two speeding tickets.

Dolphins outclass the opposition - Buckie 2010

Thu, 06 May 2010 20:36:00 EDT

Delting Dolphins Calum MacColl and Felix Gifford outclassed all at the Buckie championship at the weekend, winning 18 gold medals between them. Felix had the best swim of the meet.

The boys were part of an eight-strong team from Delting which took third place overall.

Calum’s main aim for the trip was to gain qualifying times for the Scottish national event in June, which he achieved in the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 200m and 400m IM, smashing his PBs in the process and taking the gold medals in the 12-13 age group. He also won the gold in the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke and silvers in the 200m backstroke and breaststroke.

Felix won 10 gold medals and one silver in the 14-15 age group. He broke the age group records in the 100m backstroke with 1.03.21 and 200m with 2.14.13, the 200m butterfly with 2.11.23, the 200m freestyle with 1.56.07 and the 400m IM with 4.48.86.

He took the open record in all the events except the 100m backstroke which is still held by David Henderson. Felix also gained a British national qualifying time and a trophy for the best male swim of the competition.

Zevf Vessey, in the 10-11 age group, won the gold in the 200m butterfly, silver in the 400m freestyle and bronzes in the 100m backstroke (where he broke the Shetland age group record with 1.27.27), the 200m IM and the 100m butterfly.

The timekeepers miscounted Michael Southern’s lengths in his 200m butterfly so no time was recorded. Michael had to swim the event again and won the silver medal. He also took bronze in the 200m backstroke in the 12-13 age group.

Gregor Moore showed how much he improved to take the silver medal in the 100m freestyle and a bronze in the 200m freestyle.

Arwen Raikes gave a good all-round performance with PBs in most of her events and bronze medals in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle.

Lauren Hughson saw good improvements in all her times while Megan Perry swam very well in all her events, stepping up to this grade of meet with ease The Lerwick club took four swimmers to the event, beginning with Megan Nicolson, 14, who had an excellent 100m backstroke race to take the bronze medal with a PB.

She followed this up on Saturday afternoon with a PB and sixth place in the 200m freestyle. On Sunday Megan gained fifth place in the 100m freestyle and a time just outside her PB. In the 200 IM she came fourth and was very close to the bronze medal time.

In one of Megan’s best events, the 100m fly, she won a well deserved silver medal and finally she gained fifth place in the 200m backstroke.

Chloe Nicolson swam in the 12-13 years old age group. Her four-second PB in the 100m freestyle saw her win the bronze medal – this in a time which would qualify 14-year-old swimmers for the North District training pro-gramme.

In the 400m freestyle Chloe took nearly 30 seconds off her PB, in the 100m backstroke she took her PB down by five seconds and in the 100m breaststroke by four seconds. The last session saw her gain fifth place and a PB in the 100m fly and a PB in the 200 backstroke.

Twins Anne and Emmie Hutchison, 11, competed in the 10-11 year old age group and both saw new PBs.

Anne’s PBs came in the 100m breaststroke, 100m freestyle and 200 IM while Emmie’s PBs were in the 100m and 200m freestyle and the 200m backstroke. Both girls also saw a big improvement in their starts at this meet, only their second two-day event.

Atlantic Challenge - POSTPONED!

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:29:00 EDT

The Atlantic Challenge, that was meant to be held in Orkney yesterday (18th April 2010), has had to be postponed due to the disruption of flights caused by the volcanic ash.

It is likely that it is the first gala Shetland is involved with, that has had to be postponed due to such extreme circumstances!

Scottish National Age Group Championships - Overall Report!

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:29:00 EDT

Last week some of Shetlands best swimmers took on Scotland’s’ best at the National age group championships. Coming away from the event with nine medals and four Scottish championships.
Day one: Sarah Williamson (SH) swam brilliantly in the 10/12 100m breaststroke to reach the final as the fastest qualifier. Team mate Megan Petursdottir was next on the blocks swimming in the 13 years age group excelled in the event to reach the evenings final. Andrea Strachan (SH) also was on fine form to reach the finals and on her way achieving a Pb and Shetland record.
Felix Gifford (DD) swimming the gruelling 200m butterfly easily won through to the final in a new Shetland record time. The older girls were up next in the 200m IM This saw both Andrea and Amy Harper swim brilliantly to both produce PB’s and Andrea swim was also a Shetland record.
Donnie Price (SM) had a great swim in the 100m freestyle to reach the final in a new Pb time. In the 15 years age group both Felix Gifford and Craig Nicolson (LK) reached the final. Craig in a new PB time. Callum Macgregor (LK) also swam well to reach the very difficult 16/18 age group final.
The last event of the session saw Amy Harper reach the final of the 100m backstroke and Andrea swim a PB. The morning results saw all the swimmers from Shetland who competed reach at least one final. A great achievement for the island.

The afternoon saw the distant events being swam. Donnie Price took to the water in the 1500m freestyle. In his usual style he started off steadily and increased the pace as the race continued. He ploughed his way through the field really showing his domination of this event. Timed to perfection Donnie touched to take Shetlands first Scottish championship of the championship. Felix then took on the 1500m freestyle swimming well he managed a good 4^th place in his age group.

In the evening, it was time for the much awaited finals. Sarah Williamson was the first one up for Shetland. Taking the race out right from the start. Sarah demonstrated great breaststroke to pull a good distance from the other swimmer to easily take her first championship in a fantastic new Shetland age group record time.
Megan Petursdottir swam in the next final again swimming very well she stayed with the rest of the finalist to come a good 10^th place. The experienced Andrea Strachan was Shetlands third breaststroke finalist. Attacking the race from the start she swam a new Pb and record time to come a very good fourth place. Felix Gifford was the next swimmer to take to the water in the 200m butterfly. In a very well paced event Felix broke the Shetland record to come a good 4^th place. Donnie Price swam the 100m freestyle final again in good style he swam another Pb to come 5^th in the 13 years age group. The 15 years old final saw two Shetland swimmer competing Craig Nicolson swam very well to come a creditable 10^th place. However Felix attacked the race from the start swimming a fantastic Shetland age group record time to take the Scottish championship a much deserved title for the good all rounder. Callum Macgregor also attacked his final pushing himself all the way again to a much deserved bronze medal in this difficult age group. The last final was Amy’s backstroke where she swam very well to come 9^th.
Day 2: Friday started with girls 200m freestyle Amy swam well to come a creditable 13^th and Andrea had a good swim to a new Pb time. Felix swam a good 200m backstroke to be the first reserve for the evening session in this event. The talented Sarah Williamson took to the water next in the 200m breaststroke again dominating this event to be the fastest ranked swimmer in the final. Megan Petursdottir had a fantastic swim to also reach the evening finals. Andrea completed the trio of girl breaststrokers to reach the finals.
In the boys 100m butterfly Donnie swam well to a new Pb time. Felix also swimming this event easily reached the final in a new Shetland record time. Calum Macgregor was on his Pb for this event.
In the afternoon both Donnie and Felix competed in the 400m IM. Donnie swam well to be on his Pb and Felix came a good 6^th place. Amy was the only Shetland girl to tackle the 800m freestyle. In a very confident swim Amy strength pulled her through in a fantastic swim picking off swimmer after to swimmer to touch in a new Shetland record time and a fantastic silver medal.

Again the evening finals proved to be very exciting. First Sarah confidently took to the water in the 200m breaststroke to lead from the start. Although no other swimmer looked as if they were going to beat her Sarah last 50m was fantastic as she changed up a gear and really proved she was far the best breaststroker in this age group in Scotland. This gave Sarah a second Scottish championship gold medal. Megan Petursdottir swam a fantastic final improving her last finals place coming a creditable 8^th.Andrea also swam very well to come 10^th in her age group.
Felix took to the water for the 100m butterfly a very exciting race saw Felix neck and neck with the leaders, with a strong finish Felix broke the Shetland record and took the bronze medal, just .2 away from winning his second championship.

Day 3: Saturday’s heats saw Donnie reach 2^nd reserve spot for his 100m breaststroke swimming on his Pb. The 15 years age group saw Craig, Jake Swanson(DD) and Felix all reach the final. Jake especially producing a good swim for a good Pb. The boys then took to the water for the 200m IM Donnie swam a good Pb in his event. Felix in a great swim broke the Shetland record to reach the final. Craig not far behind also reaching this final. The girls then swam the 100m freestyle; Sarah swam well to a good Pb. Arwen Raikes (DD) swimming for the first time in a national event was well on her Pb. But it was Amy and Andrea that swam really well with both of them reaching the finals in the evening. In the 100m backstroke Felix reached his third final of the day.

The afternoon saw Donnie swim another fantastic distance swim to pace his 400m freestyle again to perfection in a new Pb and a well deserved bronze medal. This proving that Donnie is certainly a force in to be reckoned with in the distance events in Scotland. Felix also swam well in the 400m to come 6^th.

That evening saw three of the Shetland boy’s line up in the 15years 100m breaststroke final, a great achievement for Shetland. Craig swam a very determined race to come 6^th in a new age group record. Jake followed in Craig in to take 7^th place with a great swim and Felix came 9^th.Felix then went on to swim the 200m IM where he lowered the Shetland record a piece more to come 7^th with Craig swimming well to take the 10^th place. The girls 100m freestyle saw Amy break the Shetland record in a brilliant swim to come 5^th and Andrea came a good 10^th in the same event. A very tired Felix swam his last final of the session the 100m backstroke to come 9^th.

Day 4: The boys started the day off with the 200m freestyle which saw Donnie reach the final in his age group and Felix easily reaching the final in his Craig was 2^nd reserve in this event. Callum Macgregor swam a good Pb and a new Shetland age group record. Donnie again swam well in the 200m breaststroke to take the second reserve position in a new Pb. Both Craig and Felix reached the final in this event, with a great swim from Craig showing what a great breaststroker he has become.

In the afternoon session Amy came a well deserved 8^th place in the tough 400mIM. But it was Donnie who stole the limelight again with his customary brilliantly paced 800m freestyle he took the silver medal with some style in a great new Pb.
The last evening of finals saw just the boys competing. Donnie swam very well in the 200m freestyle in a new Pb to come 5^th. Felix slightly got the pacing wrong in the event but still managed a good 6^th place. The last final saw a great swim from Craig in the 200m breaststroke powering off from the beginning he more than held his own with the leaders to come a good 5^th place. An extremely tired Felix swam well to come 9^th.

The weeks events were a great achievement for Shetland swimming, with so much talent the future can only look good for this sport.

Scottish National Age Group Championships - Day 4!

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:30:00 EDT

After another tough day of competition Donnie still manages to pull out a medal!

Medals
Donnie Price – South Mainland’s Donnie came an excellent 2nd place in the boys 13 years 800m freestyle.

Finalists
Felix Gifford
Craig Nicolson

If you believe there to be any inaccuracies with this result then please email me as soon as possible and it can be changed.
info@swim.shetland.co.uk

Scottish National Age Group Championships - Day 3!

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:09:00 EDT

It has been another fabulous day at Toll Cross in the Pool. The swimmers are dealing well with the strain of the intensive long days and short nights in which to rest before being plunged back into the pool.

Medals
Donnie Price brought home the only medal today for the South Mainland club. He won a bronze in the 13-year boys' 400m freestyle. Well done to him, showing the competition the Shetland Islands still have plenty of fight.

The Finalists today:
Craig Nicolson
Jake swanson
Felix Gifford
Andrea Strachan

With three boys from Shetland clubs (not the Shetland club) all in the 15 years 100m Breaststroke final, it shows there is strong competition in the event.

Another great day for our team, well done!

If you believe there to be any inaccuracies with this result then please email me as soon as possible and it can be changed.
info@swim.shetland.co.uk

Scottish National Age Group Championships - Day 2!

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:13:00 EDT

Another amazing Breaststroke swim by Sarah Williamson gains her another Scottish Championship, leading the race at the finish with a one-second lead!

Medals.
Amy Harper – Lerwick – won a silver medal in the girls 16 to 18 800m freestyle, just missing out on the Scottish Championship!
Felix Gifford – Delting in the boys 15 years 100m butterfly won a bronze medal, coming second in Scotland for his age group.

Finalists
Megan Petursdottir
Andrea Strachan
Felix Gifford

Another amazing day of swimming, well done guys!

If you believe there to be any inaccuracies with this result then please email me as soon as possible and it can be changed. info@swim.shetland.co.uk

Scottish National Age Group Championships - Day 1!

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:22:00 EDT

Three Scottish Champions - and its only day one!

Donnie Price won the Scottish Championship in the boys 1500 freestyle. - excellent swimming!
Felix Gifford won the Scottish championship in the 100 freestyle today - well done to him. He came second overall, beaten only by an English swimmer.
Sarah Williamson won the scottish championship in the 100m breaststroke, with a two second lead on her opponants.
Medals
Sarah Williamson - Shetland - in the 10/12 100m breaststroke gained a gold with an excellent two second lead on her opponents.
Felix Gifford - Delting - in the 100 freestyle gained a silver and Scottish Champion.
Callum Macgregor - lerwick - Gained a bronze in the 16 to 18 100 freestyle.
Donnie Price - South Mainland - Won a fantastic gold in the boys 13 years 1500 freestyle.

Finalists
Sarah Williamson
Andrea Strachan
Megan Petursdottir
Amy Harper
Felix Gifford
Craig Nicolson
Callum MacGregor
Donnie Price

Great day of swimming, well done to them all!

Shetland Sprint Championships

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:09:00 EDT

On Sunday The Shetland swimming association held their annual sprint championships. There were some fantastic swims with 14 Shetland records being broke and Felix Gifford (DD) breaking a North district record.In the Girls 11/12 age group Sarah Williamson (SH) dominated by winning all the gold medals. But it was a very special breaststroke which saw her break the Shetland record.36.23 Chloe Nicolson (LK) also swimming well took all the silver medals. Anne Hutchison (LK) took all but one of the bronze medals, which were won by Vhari Davies (SM) in the backstroke. For the boys Darin Eldridge(SM) swam brilliant to take the championship again winning all the gold medals. The silver medals were shared out between Eddie Price (SM) and David Wallace (DD). With Eddie taking the fly, breast and IM and David the back and free. Eddie also won the bronze in the free and David won the bronzes in the breast and IM. Joshua Maccoll (DD), fly and James Morris (SM) back, won the remaining bronzes medalsThe 13/14 age group was dominated by Megan Nicolson (LK) who had a clean sweep of the gold medals. Megan’s fantastic 100m IM swim also saw her win the 13& under IM trophy. The silver medals were won by Megan Petursdottir (SH) fly and IM. Arwen Raikes (DD) back and free and Kirsty Laurenson (SM) took the last silver in the breast. Kirsty also took the bronze in the free. Megan in the back and Arwen in the breast, fly and IM.Donnie Price(SM) won four gold medals in the 13/14 age group in the fly, IM, breast and free. He swam a great 100m IM to also take the 13 & under IM trophy He took the silver in the back. Calum Maccoll (DD) won the backstroke in this age group, winning the silvers in the fly, IM and freestyle, taking the bronze in the breast. Karl Eldridge (SM) took the remaining silver in the breast. He also won bronze medals in the fly, and IM In an exciting race saw him and Delting's Michael Southern tie for the third place in the back. Saul Swanson (DD) took the remaining bronze in the free.The 15/16 age group saw Nicole Petursdottir (SH) come back to form to win all the gold medals and so take the championship. Jessika Swanson (DD) swam well to take all the silvers except the breast which team mate Rachel Southern (DD) took Rachel also won the remaining bronze medals For the boys Felix Gifford (DD) was in record breaking form taking the Shetland record for 50m back the first time he had gone under 30 seconds 29.79 this was enough to give him the open backstroke championship. Also in a fantastic 100m IM Felix broke the North district record slicing off one tenth from it in a 1.02.80 (also a Shetland record) Felix also won the gold’s in the fly and free. In a fantastic race Craig Nicolson (LK) powered the 50m breaststroke to win the gold being pushed all the way by Jake Swanson (DD). Who took the silver this was enough to give Craig the breaststroke open trophy. Craig won the silvers in all the other events and Jake took the bronzes medals with Felix taking the remaining breast bronzeAmy Harper (LK) was on real record-breaking form winning the fly in a new 17& over and open record time 30.32 this gave her the fly trophy. In the back she again broke both records to take the backstroke trophy 31.14. In the 100m IM she was pushed all the way by Andrea Strachan (SH) but managed to win in another record time 1.08.55 to take this trophy. The freestyle also saw her win the trophy. Andrea Strachan won the breaststroke in this age group taking the 17& over record and also the overall breaststroke trophy. Andrea also took the remaining silver medals. Jan Price (SM) won all the bronze medals in this age group. Callum Macgregor (LK) was swimming brilliantly to win all the gold medals. In a great fly he won the overall trophy and broke the 17& over record 27.42. In a great race with Felix he managed to win the IM trophy in a new open and 17& over record 1.02.52. The freestyle also saw a great race, with Calum winning the freestyle trophy in a new open and 17& over record 25.08. Calum also won the gold medals in the back and breast. Tom Raikes won all the silver medals in this age group.The Shetland swimming association also presented the distance trophies for the best swims in 2009. For the girls Amy Harper won the 200m back, 200m free, 400m IM, 400m free and 800m free. Megan Nicolson won the 200m fly, Andrea Strachan the 200m breast and Jessika Swanson the 1500m free.For the boys Felix Gifford won the 200m fly, 200m back, 200m free, 400m IM, 400m Free, 800m free and 1500m free, and Craig Nicolson won the 200m breaststroke.The Shetland swimming association would like to thank Financial solutions for property for sponsoring this event and Mr John Groat for presenting the medals.

North District Age Group Championships

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:49:00 EDT

Fourteen swimmers from four Shetland clubs qualified for the North district age group championships held in Inverness last weekend. Between them winning 14 medals and breaking 26 Shetland records.

Delting Dolphins had a five swimmers swimming at the event Felix Gifford swam a full programme In his first event the 200m Backstroke Felix broke the 15/16 and open Shetland records 2.17.73, following this by a PB in his ever improving 100m breaststroke. In his 200m butterfly he swam brilliantly to take 4 seconds from the Shetland records 2.14.04 to come fourth. This was followed by Felix’s best swim a fantastic 400m freestyle in which he over took the more experienced and older Andrew Thomson from Upper Deeside to win the gold in new record time of 4.08.39. This is a great achievement as Felix is still only fifteen. He then managed a great 200m breaststroke to swim a very good Pb. Felix then went on to swim a great 1500m freestyle to gain the silver and break the Shetland records again 16.35.20. His last swim of the day was the 100m backstroke which he did a Pb. On Sunday He started his swimming by qualifying for the 100m butterfly final. He than swam a fantastic 200m freestyle to break both Shetland records on his way to winning the bronze in a very close race he was just .2 away from the gold. In the 800m freestyle he won the silver medal in new record time of 8.45.16. In the 100m freestyle he managed to qualify for the evening final. The final event of the afternoon he broke his final Shetland record in the 400m IM 4.49.12.In the evening session Felix swam brilliantly to win the bronze in the 100m butterfly in a fantastic pb 59.93 the first time he had broken the minute for 100m butterfly again in a close race he was only .1 away from the silver. In the freestyle he again won the bronze this time he was .2 away from the silver. These performances were enough to give Felix second place in the 15 and over championship.

Tom Raikes was also swimming very well gaining good PB’s in the200m butterfly and 100m backstroke He swam brilliant 400m freestyle to take the Shetland 17& over record. Tom also swam very well in the 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle to reach the final where he came a credible 6th in both. Jake Swanson did some very good PB’s during the weekend in the 100m backstroke, 400m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 100m butterfly. In an incredible 200m IM he swam very well to touch at exactly the same time as another swimmer both taking the heat this was a good enough time to qualify for the nationals, as was his very good 400m IM. David Wallace swam very well in the 100m freestyle to reach the finals where he swam a good Pb to come 5th. He also swam a great 200m freestyle time which also qualifies for the nationals. Arwen Raikes also swam well in all her events but especially the 200m butterfly where she went under 3 minutes for the first time.

The Clickimin training squad took 7 swimmers to this event. Sarah Williamson swam brilliantly in the two breaststroke events showing her class in this stroke she took the field apart in both events to win both gold medals. In the 100m breaststroke she also broke the 11/12 years Shetland record formally held by team mate Andrea Strachan. She also swam two great IM’s to come 6th in both. In her 100m butterfly she managed to reach the final where she came fourth. In all her other event she managed good Pb times.

Callum MacGregor swam a brilliant 100m freestyle. Firstly in the heats he took a whisper from his Pb to reach the final. In the final however he had an amazing swim to lead from the start to win the gold in a fantastic 52.67 an age group and open record achieving the fastest time ever by a Shetlander. Callum also swam a great 200m freestyle where he managed to go under two minutes for the first time breaking his age group record 1.59.43.Callum managed to reach the final in both the 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke where he came 5th and 7th respectably. Callum also broke the 17 and over record in the 200m IM.2.19.00

Amy Harper followed Callum’s example by swimming brilliantly in the 100m freestyle to win the gold in a new Shetland record of 58.36. Continuing with the freestyle events she also won a bronze in the 200m freestyle taking this Shetland record as well 2.09.99.In the 200m IM, 100m backstroke and 400m IM she managed 4th place. Andrea Strachan had a great weekend achieve PB’s in most of her events In the 100m freestyle she had a great race neck and neck with Amy to just lose out on the touch to take a silver medal, a good one ,two for the Shetland swimmers. Andrea also swam extremely well in the 100m breaststroke to break the Shetland record to win the bronze. Andrea also achieved a Shetland record in the 200m breaststroke. She reached the final in the 200m IM where she came 6th she also came 7th in the 200m backstroke and 5th in the 200m freestyle.

Craig Nicolson had a great meet achieving PB’s in nearly all his events. Craig swam well to reach the finals in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m IM coming 6th in both. The IM was even better for taking the age group and open Shetland records 2.16.21.Craig also achieved 6th place in the 200m breaststroke. Megan Petursdottir was swimming well achieving 3 PB’s and gaining a finals place in the 100m breaststroke. Megan Nicolson had a varied weekend but still managed to be on her PB’s. The Clickimin training squad would like to thank their coaches and the parents who accompanied them on this trip.

Brothers Donnie and Eddie Price represented South Mainland ASC Donnie who swam 11 events achieved PB’s in them all In the 200m butterfly he took an amazing 6 seconds from his time and then took a second from his 100m freestyle time After another pb in the 200m IM he concluded the session by coming 6th (Donnie however was the fastest 13 year old).in the 400m freestyle. He also managed PB’s in the 100m butterfly and 200m breaststroke. Donnie swam brilliantly in the 1500m freestyle aiming to go under 18 minutes he smashed his Pb by 26 seconds 17.43.12 to win a well deserved silver medal. On the second day Donnie swam a further four PB’s in the 200m freestyle,800m freestyle where he came 4th just missing a medal by .19, the 100m breaststroke and the 400m IM.

Eddie swam three events ,in a great 100m freestyle he swam a pb to reach the final in which he gained a place to achieve 7th place overall He also achieved PB’s in the 200m breaststroke which gave him 5th place and gained a good 7th place with a pb in the 200m freestyle

Shetland Junior Championships

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:35:00 EDT

The Shetland swimming association held their annual junior age group championships on Sunday. This event was kindly sponsored by the A9 partnership Ltd. This championship involved children age ten and under swimming 25m and 50m events. In the 8 yrs and under age group Seumas Mackay(SM) dominated the age group by winning all four events in fine style and so taking the age group trophy. Dylan Black (SM) took the silvers in the backstroke and freestyle. Ian Poleson (WH) took the silver in the breaststroke and bronze in the freestyle. Stuart Bain (SH) won the bronze in the backstroke and Mark Hutcheon (SH) took the bronze in the breaststroke. In the girls event Erraid Davies (SM) like her team mate Seumas won all her events in tremendous style. The silver medals were well shared out Lianne Jamieson (WH) took the freestyle, Jasmin Smith (SM) the breaststroke, Kayla Manson (LK) the backstroke and Kirsten Keay the Butterfly. These girls also shared the bronze medals Lianne backstroke, Jasmin butterfly, Kayla freestyle and Kirsten breaststroke. Bowen Ratter (DD) took the 9yrs boys championship by winning the freestyle and butterfly, second place in the backstroke and third in the breaststroke. Reece Paul (LK) {left} won the gold in the breaststroke and bronze in both the backstroke and freestyle. The remaining gold went to Euan Polson (WH) in the backstroke Euan also got silvers in the freestyle and butterfly. The final silver was won in the breaststroke by Bobby Laurenson (SM) who also won the bronze in the butterfly. The girls 9yrs championship was won by Ami Maddison (LK) who dominated the age group by winning all her events. Katie Bain (SH) {right} won the silvers in breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle. The last silver was won by Sophie Black (SM) who also took bronzes in the backstroke and freestyle. The last bronze for breaststroke was won by Lois Ross (SH) {left}. The 10year olds swam 50m of each stroke. Zevf Vessey (DD) swam brilliantly to win this age group winning all his events. Morgan Morris (LK) won the silvers in butterfly and freestyle. Johannes Kerr (SH) won the silver in the breaststroke and bronze in the backstroke. Arthur Poleson (WH) won the last silver for the backstroke. Kieran Glaser (LK) managed to win the bronze for the breaststroke and Scott Robertson (DD) took the remaining bronzes for the butterfly and freestyle. The Hutchison (LK) twins battled it out for the 10yrs age group championship with Anne just betting Emmie to receive the trophy. Anne won the butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle and took a bronze for the backstroke whilst Emmie won the backstroke and took silver in the freestyle and breaststroke and bronze in the butterfly. Sophie Morris(SM) swam well to take the remaining silver medals in the butterfly and backstroke and Shannon Davies (DD) won the last bronze in the breaststroke. The Shetland swimming association would like to thank Jim Robertson and his officials, the Clickimin staff for all their help and The A9 partnership for sponsoring this event

Alan Lynn Training - Janurary 2010

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:13:00 EDT

One of Scotlands leading authorities on swimming and coaching, Alan Lynn, was back in Shetland last weekend to run the second in a series of three training weekends for Shetland Swimming Association. Coaches from five Shetland clubs, swimmers from the county training squad and some members of the development squad were involved in an intensive weekend at the Clickimin Centre.

On Saturday morning the three sessions were focused on coaches and the county squad. The education session covered competition strategy and how to make the best of swim ming meets. This was of particular interest with the challenges Shetland swimmers face, having to travel longer distances than their rivals to compete in mainland club, district and national meets.

The land training session which followed focused on dynamic warm up and power circuits. It was then into the pool for a two hour session in which Alan concentrated on improving aerobic capacity in individual medley events, training skills and stroke efficiency. The swimmers then had a lunch break while Alan led a discussion on Shetland swimming development with the coaches.

After lunch the county squad were joined by some members of the development squad. A very inform ative talk and discussion was then held about nutrition for training and competitions. Swimmers learnt about the best drinks and food to eat, when and how much. They then had the chance to sample food, which would enhance their training and performance.

The next land training session involved games warm-ups and group circuits and after a short break they were in the pool. Alan again covered stroke efficiency with mixed individual medley challenge sets and kick tests in a challenging training session. He also got the more experienced swimmers to mentor the younger ones for a time mirroring what they do at the club he coaches at, Stirling ASC.

Sunday morning saw everyone thinking about his or her own competition strategy including a mentoring exercise. The land session which followed caused much hilarity with a big fun element in the exercises they took part in. The final two hour pool session started with only three lanes being used to replicate a competition warm up where things can get very crowded. This was followed by speed development, aerobic maintenance in the front crawl and back crawl and recovery swimming.

Feedback from the swimmers showed how much they had learned over the weekend with Alan.

Swimmers and coaches would like to express their thanks to Alan Lynn for coming up to Shetland and Clickimin staff for their assistance. Thanks also to Kevin Jones for his photos throughout the weekend which captured all the hard work and fun. These training weekends have been made possible by a lottery funded Awards for all Scotland grant. Shetland Swimming Association is very grateful for their support for this swimming development project and is looking forward to Alan’s next visit.

Junior North District meet - December 2009

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:17:00 EDT

Members of four swimming clubs from Shetland travelled to Inver ness at the weekend to compete in the North District meet.

Golden girl Sarah Williamson won gold in the 11/12 age group 100m breaststroke with a fantastic swim and new personal best (PB) of 1.21.81. In the longer breaststroke event, the 200m, she also swam well to take away the bronze. Sarah, the only representative of the Shetland Amateur Swimming Club, also produced PBs in the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle and the 200m freestyle.

There were six swimmers from South Mainland ASC. Donnie Price, 13, swam in every event in the 13/14 year old age group, and only missed out on a PB in one race.

Not having had many op portunities to race 200m butterfly, but having shown steady improve ment in the shorter 100m race, Donnie expected to gain a good PB and was pleased to finish in 2.50.03, a 13 second PB. Another tough event, the 400m individual medley (IM), resulted in an excellent six second improvement for a 5.28.69.

In the 400m freestyle Donnie achieved eighth place and was the fastest 13-year-old. However, his biggest success of the weekend came in the 1,500m freestyle, where he finished in 18.09.57, a seven second PB and overall bronze position.

Also competing in the 13/14 age group was Karl Eldridge, 14, who had a good two days of racing, achieving six PBs out of seven races. His best improvement was in the 200m breaststroke where he took a massive 14 seconds off his previous best to finish with a 3.08.92. Another fantastic drop in time was in his 100m freestyle, nearly four seconds faster than before with a 1.07.07.

In the 10-12 year age group, the youngest of South Mainland swimmers at the meet this year, 11-year-old Eddie Price, had a successful weekend, finishing
with a PB in all but one of his nine races.

Eddie’s weekend started with a seven-second PB in the 400m freestyle, lowering his time to 5.25.33 and overall 13th place.

His last event of the meet was the 200m freestyle where he improved by six seconds for 2.34.58, coming 14th in the age group and fastest 11-year-old.

He was delighted with a 3.24.34 in the 200m breaststroke, a massive 12 seconds off his previous best.

In the same age group James Morris, 11, successfully gained PBs in all of his seven events.

Four second PBs in the 100m butterfly and the 100m breaststroke brought his times down 1.36.65 for butterfly and 1.40.97 for breaststroke. However, it was in the 200m backstroke that he made his biggest improvement. He took a superb seven seconds off his previous PB to finish with a time of 2.56.01 and gain 16th overall place.

South Mainland had two girls competing in the 13-14 year age group. Kirsty Laurenson, 13, managed to beat her entry times for five out of six events.

She demonstrated tremendous im prove ment in both the butterfly distances, taking two seconds off her 100m for a 1.21.62 and just under 10 seconds in the 200m butterfly, with a 3.09.85. In the 400m IM an eight-second PB gave her a 6.10.93.

Sarah Keay also swam six events and had an excellent 200m breaststroke, with her time of 3.15.17 a six-second improvement. She was also very pleased to gain a PB in her 100 freestyle with 1.09.16 and to finish close to entry times in her other events.

A spokeswoman said South Mainland ASC would like to thank NorthLink, Mainlands, Freefield Pharmacy and Solution X for their support and sponsorship.

Delting Dolphins took eight swimmers to the event, and with all producing a least one PB it was a successful trip. Calum Maccoll had a fantastic weekend. In his first event, the 400m freestyle, he sliced just under 30 seconds from his time to swim under five minutes for the first time. He produced PBs in
the 100m butterfly and 200m backstroke, then pulled out a great swim in the 100m freestyle to take three seconds from his time to come fourth.

Calum took a tremendous six seconds from his time in the 200m breaststroke and seven seconds from the 200m IM which saw him gain the first reserve for the evening final. He also did a PB in the 100m backstroke and sliced seven seconds from his time in the 200m freestyle. Calum was never out of the top 10 swimmers for all his events.

David Wallace, also swimming in the 11/12 age group, produced many PBs. In the 400m freestyle he swam well to a good PB while in the 100m freestyle he went under 1.10 for the first time. He also did PBs in the 100m breaststroke, the 100m backstroke and took even seconds off his PB in the 200m freestyle.

Joshua Maccoll, also swimming in this age group but only turning 11 the day before the event, swam a fantastic 100m butterfly to a good PB time.

The older boys, 13/14 year old, also swam well. Saul Swanson produced PBs in all his events, taking four seconds from his 100m backstroke, 11 seconds from his 200m freestyle, four seconds from his 100m butterfly, two from his 100m freestyle and eight from his 200m backstroke. In what was a great weekend’s work for him, Michael Southern managed to go under the 1.10 mark in his 100m freestyle for the first time as did Iwan MacBride. Michael also did a good PB in the 200m backstroke.

Arwen Raikes as also swimming very well, producing PBs in the 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 100m freestyle and taking six seconds from her 200m backstroke. This event also saw team mate Leigh Wishart swim a good PB.

Lerwick Swimming Club had two swimmers at the meet, sisters Megan and Chloe Nicolson, who swam a full programme and produced some very good times.

Megan swam in the 13/14 age group and showed the other competitors how to start, gaining the advantage from every one of her starts very impressively.

Megan swam good PBs in the 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke while a fantastic 400m IM saw her take a good nine seconds from her time.

Chloe, in her first time at a district meet, did herself proud by producing great PBs in the 100m butterfly, seven seconds came off her 200m backstroke, four from her 100m freestyle, a massive 10 from her 400m IM and six from her 200m breaststroke. She also did a good PB in the 200m IM.

It was a great weekend for all the competitors, showing that Shetland has a great base of up-and-coming swimmers for the future.

(source - www.shetlandtimes.co.uk)

Rens 96 - Delting Dolphins - November

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:49:00 EDT

Delting Dolphins took a squad of five swimmers to the Rens 96 open meet at the weekend and came back with a clutch of medals.

Felix Gifford swam brilliantly all weekend, gaining two golds, two silver and three bronze medals and breaking nine Shetland county records on the way.

He started the weekend by slicing three seconds from his time in the 400m freestyle to come fourth in a new open and age group record time 4.14.39. He then managed to get in the 100m breaststroke final where he came fifth, and finished sixth in the 200m breaststroke.

In he second session Felix broke his age group Shetland record 2.22.47 to come fifth in the 200m backstroke. He than swam a superb 200m individual medley (IM) to take the gold in an open and age group record time of 2.17.19. His second gold came in the 100m freestyle where he dominated the race.

The following day Felix came fifth in the 400m IM in a new open and age group record time 4.54.22.

In the 200m free he gained the silver in a new open and age group record 1.59.33, which also went through the meet record. In the final of the 100m backstroke he came third in a new PB.

In the final session Felix came third in the 200m butterfly in a new open and age group record time, and also came third in the final of the 50m freestyle. In the last final Felix was seeded first in the 100m butterfly. He swam against David Morgan and just lost out on the touch to be rewarded the silver. Again both boys went through the meet record.

Tom Raikes, also swimming well, reached the final of the 100m butterfly where he came sixth and the freestyle where he came fourth. He swam brilliantly in the 200m butterfly to produce a good PB to come third.

Rachel Southern managed to produce a PB in all her events and reached the final of the girls� breaststroke where she came fifth. Jamie Murphy swam well in his two freestyle events, the 50m and the 100m, to get good PBs in both. Arwen Raikes was on her PBs for all her events but swam very well in the 100m butterfly to produce a good PB The swimmers said they would like to thank Liz Southern for accompanying them on the trip.

(Source Shetland Times | http://shetlandtimes.co.uk )

Buckie Mini Meet - November

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:54:00 EDT

Four young swimmers from Shetland took part in the Buckie ASC Mini Meet on Saturday – Erraid Davies from South Mainland Amateur Swimming Club and Chloe Nicolson and twins Anne and Emmie Hutchison from Lerwick Amateur Swimming Club.

The event consisted of 25 metre swims for Erraid, aged eight, and 50m swims for Anne and Emmie, 10, and Chloe, 11, in all strokes.

Erraid started the day in the eight years age group with a bronze medal in the 25m backstroke and a personal best (PB) time. She followed with a gold in her favourite stroke the butterfly after a great start, a silver and another PB in the breaststroke and and finally a silver in the freestyle in a time equaling her PB.

Emmie, swimming in the 10 years age group, won a fourth place pennant in the backstroke in a PB and later in the morning won a fifth place pennant in the butterfly. She also achieved a PB in the freestyle, gaining sixth place.
In the same age group Anne won silver in the breaststroke in a PB and bronze in the freestyle with another PB. Earlier she had achieved a PB in the butterfly, coming in seventh.

Chloe began her day with a fourth in the backstroke and a PB, with a superb turn gaining her a place. She followed with an excellent PB in the butterfly and a sixth place. In the afternoon she took three seconds off her breaststroke PB to gain a fifth place pennant. Saving her best to last she won the silver medal in the freestyle with another PB.

A club spokeswoman said the girls swam very well in an extremely competitive event with swimmers from all over the orth District.

The Lerwick swimmers said they would like to thank NorthLink Ferries, the SIC and their club for the financial support for the trip while Erraid thanked the Callum Younger Reach Fund for her funding.

(Source Shetland Times | http://shetlandtimes.co.uk )

Shetland Age Group Championships

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:06:00 EDT

Shetland Swimming Association hosted the age group championships at Clickimin on Sunday and the competition produced some fantastic swimming.

In the girls 11-12 age group Sarah Williamson (Shetland) dom�inated to win all her events and took the championship with Chloe Nicol�son (Lerwick) winning all the silvers. The bronze medals were shared out between Vhairi Davies (South Mainland) in the butterfly and IM, Kayleigh Anderson (SH) in the backstroke and breaststroke, and Morven Davies (SM) in the freestyle.

In the boys event Calum Maccoll (Delting Dolphins) won the butterfly, backstroke, IM and freestyle and took the silver in the breaststroke, enough to win the championship. Darrin Eldridge (SM) won the breaststroke and gained silvers in all the other events. The bronzes were shared by Eddie Price (SM) in the butterfly, IM breaststroke and freestyle and David Wallace (DD) in the back-stroke.

In the 13-14 age group Megan Nicolson (LK) won the champ�ionship, taking gold medals in the butterfly, backstroke and freestyle. She also won silvers in the IM and breaststroke. Megan Petursdottir (SH) won the IM and breaststroke, gained silvers in the backstroke and butterfly and a bronze in the free-style.

Megan Petursdottir�s excellent IM also won her the stroke championship for that event. Arwen Raikes (DD) won the remaining silver in the freestyle and a bronze in the butterfly. The remaining bronzes were won by Kirsty Laurenson (SM) in the backstroke, Leigh Wishart (DD) in the IM and Sarah Keay (SM) in the breast-stroke.

In the boys event Craig Nicolson (LK) won all the gold medals, giving him the overall age group championship. His breaststroke race, in which he took his age group record, won him the overall breaststroke championship.

Donnie Price (SM) managed to take all the silvers for the age group while Karl Eldridge (SM) in the butterfly and IM and Saul Swanson (DD) in the backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle shared the bronzes.

In the girls 15-16 age group Jessika Swanson (DD) won golds in the butterfly, backstroke and freestyle and silver in the breaststroke, in which team mate Rachel Southern won the gold. She also won a gold in the IM and and silvers in the remaining events, enough to give Jessika the cham-pionship.

In the boys event Felix Gifford (DD) won the butterfly, backstroke, IM and breaststroke and was second in the freestyle, enough to win him the championship from Callum Macgregor (LK) who won the freestyle and came second in the remaining events. Jake Swanson (DD) won all the bronze medals.

This age group produced many of the overall stroke champions. Felix won the butterfly after taking a good lead at the 50m mark, he won the backstroke and he dominated the IM to win in a new open record time of 2.19.09. Callum, not to be outdone, won the freestyle in a new open record time of 53.74.

In the 17 and over age group Amy Harper (LK) won the backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle, taking the overall stroke championship and domin-ating the girls events.

Jan Price (SM) won the IM for this age group and gained silvers for the breaststroke and freestyle.

In the boys� event Tom Raikes (DD) won the championship, winning the butterfly, backstroke, IM and freestyle. The remaining gold was won by Kevin Gifford (LK) in the breaststroke, in which Tom won the silver.

(Source Shetland Times http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2009/11/06/swimmers-excel-as-trophies-well-shared-out-betwen-teams)

Alan Lynn Training

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:08:00 EDT

One of the countrys leading edu�cators of swimming coaches was in Shetland last weekend to take a training weekend for swimmers and coaches.

Alan Lynn is a senior teaching fellow of sport coaching at the Department of Sport Studies at the University of Stirling.

Forty-two swimmers, aged from nine to 18 years, and 13 coaches from four Shetland clubs were involved in the intensive programme which took place at the Clickimin Centre. Over a day and a half they took part in three pool sessions, three land training sessions and three educational sessions all led by Alan.

New techniques, training drills and tough training sessions in the pool gave coaches new ideas as well as some fun learning activities for all the swimmers taking part. In the land sessions the importance of strength conditioning was covered along with a variety of warm up exercises. Educational sessions cover�ed a variety of subjects in�cluding what it takes to be a champion, technique, keys to suc�cess, goal setting, time management for swimmers and a DVD of top class swimming. This was a fantastic opportunity not only for the swim�mers but for coaches from all over Shetland. Everyone enjoyed the weekend and the swimmers were a credit to their clubs and Shetland.

Swimmers and coaches would like to express their thanks to Alan Lynn for coming up to Shetland, Clickimin staff for their assistance and Lesley Hutchison for organising this the first of three visits from Alan. These training weekends have been made possible by a lottery funded Awards For All Scotland grant. Shetland Swimming Associ�ation are very grateful for their sup�port for this swimming development project, which will see swimming in Shetland go from strength to strength.

As well as being as being a highly regarded coach, Alan Lynn is the author of three of the most recent and current books on swimming � Crowood Sports Guides to Swim�ming, High Performance Swimming and Conditioning for Swimmers.

All three books are a must have for anyone embarking on a career in coaching and are essential reading for students of UKCC level 1, 2 and 3.

(Source - SHETLAND TIMES http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2009/10/16/swimming-guru-hosts-training)

British Intercounties

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:16:00 EDT

Congratulations to Andrea Strachan who came 9th in the 16/17 100m freestyle, Amy Harper who came 11th in the 16/17 100m backstroke and Felix Gifford who came 3rd the 13/14 100m freestyle whilst representing Scotland North in the British Intercounties competition in Sheffield last weekend. The girls were also members of the winning 16\17 medley relay and Felix�s medley relay came 3rd.

County Championships Trio - October 2009

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:32:00 EDT

Three Shetland swimmers have been selected to represent the North District of Scotland in the forthcoming county championships in Sheffield on 18th October. Seventeen-year-olds Amy Harper from Lerwick ASC and Andrea Strachan (SACSC) will be com peting in the older age group while Felix Gifford from Delting Dolphins will swim in the middle age group. This is a great achievement for the swimmers and means that Shetland has taken three of the 24 places in the team.

Shetland Junior Sprints -27th Setember 2009 - Clickimin

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:47:00 EDT

Winners: Sophie Morris, Anne Hutchison Emmie Hutison, Erraid Davies.�

Bowen Ratter, Josh Maccoll and Seumas Mackay.

Shetland�s junior sprints took place on Sunday 27th September 2009. Most Shetland clubs were represented. Ages ranged from about 8 to 12 years. The younger ones swam one length (25m) whilst the older ones had to swim a whole two lengths (50m). There was tough competition throughout with many PBs, close exciting races and medals

Marc's Medley Challenge

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:11:00 EDT

There was exceptional swimming on Saturday 26th September at the North Mainland Leisure Centre in Marc’s Medley Challenge. The gala consisted of a 50m sprint of each stroke and the final is a 200 IM. Swimmers from many clubs were competing and achieving many PBs and medals.

Distance Time Trials

tomdog84@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:30:00 EDT

There were many excellent PB's achieved at Shetland's Distance Time trials. A wide variety of ages were represented from all the clubs. Well most got PB's!

The Gala ran from 11:00 to 14:00 and included:

Mixed 200m Breaststroke
Mixed 200m Freestyle
Mixed 800m Freestyle
mixed 1500 Freestyle

Well done everyone.

Uk School Games - Swansea

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:48:00 EDT

Felix Gifford recently represented Shetland and Scotland in the UK school games. Swimming 100m freestyle in the boys freestyle relay, it was a close action paced race. Felix gained two places on rival teams and touched in an amazing 55.9 seconds.

British Nationals

tomdog84@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:47:00 EDT

At the end of July 2009 felix Gifford Represented Shetland and Scotland in the British Nationals, swimming 100 freestyle. Getting an amazing 56.8 in a 50 meter pool he thrashed one of his English rivals!

Island Games - Aland 2009

info@deltingdolphins.co.uk — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:06:00 EDT

At the end of June 2009, eight Shetland Swimmers traveled to Aland to compete in the 13th Natwest Island Games. We Gained two medals, both bronze, by Andrea Strachern in the 50 m Breast and Amy Harper in the 100 m Freestyle. The boys all gained good PB's and worked very well as a team acheiving high places in relays, and smashing the Shetland records.

Beta League winners 2008/2009

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:03:00 EDT

The Beta league winners, the South Mainland team are presented with the trophy.

Age Group Nationals Edinburgh 2009

info@swim.shetland.co.uk — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:06:00 EDT

Recently swimmers competed in the Edinburgh age group nationals.With tough competition records were still achieved!