Scottish Gas National Short Course Championships 2012 – Gala Report

Twelve swimmers from COSASC’s Performance and Age Group Development squads competed as guests at the Scottish National Short Course Championships.  This prestigious three day competition was held at Edinburgh’s newly refurbished Royal Commonwealth Pool and our swimmers were competing against some of the best athletes in Britain. The competition was essentially an open age group event with selected events offering age group categories (14 and under for girls and 15 and under for boys).  Our relatively young team, aged 13 to 19 years with an average age of just 15 performed exceptionally well against much older competitors, reaching finals, gaining Great Britain (GB) Short Course top 20 rankings and many personal bests between them.

Nineteen year old Danielle Huskisson, currently training at Stirling University recorded the best result, finishing third in the 8oom freestyle behind 1^st placed Kerri-Anne Payne (Olympian and double 10k world champion) and 2^nd placed Sian Morgan (2010 Commonwealth Games 800m freestyle finalist),  a tremendous achievement.

The Open 800m freestyle event also saw Lucy Ellis, 15, finish in 7^th place, followed closely by Alexandra Robinson, 18, in 8^th place and Lucy Walton in 13^th place.  All three finished in personal best (PB) times and Lucy’s Ellis’ time of 8:57.18 places her 4th in the current GB Short Course rankings for 15 year old girls.

The 200 I/M saw Alex Robinson qualify for the B Final where she finished in 16^th place overall.  Emma Sinclair, 16, finished 6^th in the 200m butterfly heats to qualify for the A Final, only to be disqualified from 3^rd place in the final.  Lucy Walton finished 14^th after competing in the B Final.

Lucy Walton also qualified for the 200m backstroke A Final finishing 6^th in a very fast personal best time of 2:13.39.  This places Lucy 5^th in the current GB Short Course rankings for her age.  Lucy Ellis competed in the B Final where she finished in 12^th place overall also with a PB.

In the 400m freestyle event, Danielle qualified for the A Final with a PB time where she finished 7^th.  Lucy Ellis and Alexandra Robinson both qualified for the B Final finishing in 10^th and 12^th places respectively. Lucy’s time of 4:24.05 was a PB and improves her GB Short Course ranking to 12^th place for her age group.

The 400 I/M saw more success for Sunderland’s girls with Lucy Walton, Lucy Ellis and Alexandra Robinson all qualifying for the A Final where they finished  4^th, 5^th and 8^th places respectively.  Lucy Walton’s time of 4:54.31 was a PB and earned her an 8^th place GB ranking whilst Lucy Ellis’ time of 4:58.53 was also a PB and places her 12^th in the GB rankings.

Fourteen year old Freya Rayner qualified for the B final in the Open 100m backstroke event where she finished 12^th in a time of 1:04.56.  This was a PB and places her 3^rd in the BG Short Course rankings for her age.  This is her second top five ranking as she is ranked 4^th for the 50m backstroke.  Freya was 8^th in the 400 I/M (14 and under) and again finished with a new PB.

Also representing the senior swimmers were seventeen year olds Joe Middleton and Jennifer Tatters.  Joe gained his best result in the 100m backstroke finishing 23^rd place with a new PB.  Jen’s best result came in the 400m freestyle where she gained 22^nd place.

In the younger age group Jodi Bunker, 13, finished in 6^th place in the 400 I/M (14 and under), 10^th place in the 400m freestyle (14 and under), and was 20^th in the Open 200m butterfly.  All were PB times and the butterfly time of 2:27.68 places her 14^th in the GB Short course rankings.  Jodi also competed in the Open 200m breaststroke finishing 24^th and was 21^st in the 800m freestyle (14 and under).  Amy Henshaw, 13, competed in the 14 and under 800m freestyle and 400 I/M events finishing 44^th and 39^th respectively and came 34^th in the Open 200m butterfly event with a new PB time. Jennifer Sharp, 13, finished 43^rd in the Open 200m butterfly.  Callum Reveley, 14, competed in the 15 and under 1500m, 400m freestyle and 400 I/M events.  He was placed 19^th, 20^th and 39^th respectively and all were in new PB times.

Danny Thompson said:

“This was an excellent meet for the programme coming off the back of an excellent training cycle.  To produce such outstanding short course results so early in the season is extremely pleasing. We will now look to transfer those results into 2013”