The summer months were an extremely busy but rewarding time for St Thomas swimmers. At the Scottish National Age Group Championships (SNAGS) in Aberdeen, 17 St Thomas swimmers competed in individual and relay events. Katie Phillips set long course personal bests in her 100 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke (by 6 seconds), 200 Individual Medley, 100 Backstroke and 100 Butterfly. In her freestyle Katie made the final placing 8th; in the 200 IM Katie improved on her heat time by over 2 seconds to come fourth and achieve a British National qualifying time; she finished 6th in her 100 backstroke with nearly a 2 second improvement but she saved the best for last with a wonderful 100 butterfly final to take home the bronze medal and to secure another British time. Skye Redford was close to her 100 Freestyle time but demonstrated much improved turning technique and along with Katie, Kirsten Duncan and Sarah Cummins represented St Thomas with distinction in the relay events with many close races with local rivals Perth City. Like Katie, Sophie Smith was on stellar form all week at the Scottish setting personal best times in most of her events and achieving British times in all her freestyle swims. She picked up gold medals in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 FS; silver medals in the 100 FS; bronze medals in the 400 IM, 200 BK and also made the finals of the 100 BK, 200 IM and 100 FLY. In her 800 and 1500 FS Sophie dominated the race by executing a great race plan with superb pacing to set Scottish National Records in both events. Making his debut at the SNAGS, George Cowan set personal bests in most of his 9 individual events. He kicked things off with an excellent 800 FS placing 12th overall and followed this up with a long course personal best in the 100 BK. George also set long course personal bests in his 200 FS, 100 FLY, 400 IM, 400 FS and 100 FS. His 400 FS was extremely impressive as his 2 second personal best was an improvement over a time set just 3 weeks before. Team mate Robert Allan was also competing for the first time at the SNAGS. Robert had been on excellent form in his previous meets and this continued with long course personal bests in his 100 and 200 butterfly finishing 3rd in both heats. Blair Geddes competed in the 100 and 200 FLY, 100 FS and 100 BK; his 200 FLY was extremely impressive swim with excellent pacing and turns. Along with Jack Green, Blair, Robert and George competed in 4x100 and 4x200 relay events for St Thomas. Elle McMillan and Hannah Coull were also all making their debuts at the SNAGS. Elle finished third in her 100 FS heat taking 3 seconds off her time whilst she set a personal best in the 400 IM. Hannah swam with determination in her 200 Breaststroke heat to finish second in a new personal best time and she also improved her 100 breaststroke time by over 2 seconds. Elle and Hannah along with Sophie and Ashley Thomson also competed with great skill in 4x100 and 4x200 relay events. Ashley swam in the 50 and 200 FS and 100 FLY; her 200 FS time was over a second improvement in her personal best while she demonstrated good technique in her butterfly events. Blair Fotheringham competed in the 100 BK, 200 IM and 50, 100 and 200 FS as well as the 4x100 Medley Relay team. Blair raced well particularly in his 200 IM with a strong butterfly leg and in his 100 FS Blair turned 1st to finish just outside his entry time. Ross Geddes swam with determination all week; he set personal best times in his 50 FS and 100 Butterfly and was just outside his 100 FS time. Ross made the final in the 100 butterfly and gave everything he could as he edged closer to breaking the 60 second barrier. Taylor Young also broke his personal best in the 50 FS and Luke Shepherd smashed his entry time in the 100 FS. Along with team mate Nathan Watt all boys represented St Thomas in 4x100 relays. Their 4x100 FS relay in particular was an excellent race with the lead changing between St Thomas and Heart of Midlothian; unfortunately with boys just lost out on the touch. Sophie, Katie and George then went on to compete at the British and Welsh National events. Making their debuts at the British Championships in Sheffield and swimming alongside competitors who had just compete in the Commonwealth Games, Sophie and Katie represented themselves with pride. Sophie competed in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 FS; she was placed in the top 20 for most of her freestyle swims while Katie set a new personal best time in her 50 FLY finishing second in her heat; she backed up her SNAGS times in the 200 IM and 100 FLY. George had a busy programme at the Welsh competing in 13 events. He continued his excellent form from the SNAGS setting personal best times in 9 of those events; he was placed 5th in the 1500 FS with a 30 second pb; 9th in the 50 Fly; 7th in the 400 IM; 6th in the 400 FS and 7th in the 200 Fly in a 2 second improvement on his SNAGS time. In his last event the 50 BK George won his heat from an outside lane. Not to be outdone by these younger stars, Masters swimmer Mark Shepherd competing in the 50-54 age group at a British Masters event set 3 new Scottish records in the 50, 100 and 200 Butterfly coming 4th, second and first respectively.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 21:09:18 +0000
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