This trophy is belived to be the oldest in Scottish Swimming and we brought it home at the end of the day. The last time Portobello won the Telfer Cup, our president hadn’t even been born (yes, it really was that long ago). However, it was our 20th victory since the Cup was awarded to the City in 1900 and only one club has won it more frequently that us. Despite a disappointing entry in this year’s competition (it was surprising to see which clubs couldn’t raise a team) our 4 relay teams swam very well and won convincingly.
 In particular, the under 15 freestyle team (Ciaran, Caitlin, Scott and Erin) had an excellent swim and went under the 2 min mark (which we believe is the fastest ever time for a team in this age group). We also saw some excellent individual splits, especially from Benji on the 50m breast and Daniel on the 100m free.
The final round of the leagues saw some great swims and excellent team performances. In the morning session, our 8/9 girls team (Emma, Eilidh, Caitlin, Louise T and Lucy H) finished 3rd in the league and collected bronze medals for their efforts. Both of the 10/11 girls teams swam well and finished in the top half of their very big league. Our top individual performances on the day came from Emma who had two 2nd places (free + fly), Nieve (2nd in the back) and Ryan (3rd in the breast). Our biggest PBs wre from Ciara (200m free), Ryan (100m IM) and Sam (200m free).
 In the afternoon, we finished as runners-up in all four leagues. In fact, in both the boys and girls 12/13 age groups we finished a close second behind the eventual winners. In the individual events, Benji (200m IM and 100m breast), Isla (100m back), Kate + Hannah (100m fly) and Clare (100m breast) all took top points in their events. There were some huge PBs in the afternoon (with several swimmers tackling events for the first time in ages) including Gillian (200m free), Scott and Kate (100m fly) and John (100m breast).
This was the very last major meet before the RCP closes for its 2 yr refurbishment and we had some excellent results. Raquel led the way with a great weekend of sprints, being crowned Junior (under 16) champion in the 50m breast and breaking the 13 yrs District record for 50m fly. Niall finished a creditable 6th in the 50m fly (and secured his final Bronze Squad time) and James also made the top 8 in the 400m free.
  In the age group events, Chris took a gold and a silver, Rory W a gold, Gavin a silver and Ciaran a bronze.The big PBs of the weekend were for Michelle on the 200m breast and both Rory W and Laura in the 200m free.
Well done to everyone who competed at this year’s Hearts Novice. We had 14 swimmers in the competition (Eilidh, Lucy T, Louise, Rosa, Lucy H, Melissa, Kirsty, Joanne, Isobel, Lauren, Ryan, Jamie and Aaron) and 4 of them won medals in a very competitive meet. Ryan won a gold in the breast, Melissa and Lucy H both won silvers in the free with Kirsty taking a bronze in the free and Melissa a bronze in the breast.
 Many thanks to Brian and Stewart for managing the team and also thanks to the parents for getting the swimmers to the gala through all of the marathon day traffic and road closures.
Our first ever 2 day meet outside Scotland was a huge success for all concerned. The new pool at Sunderland was superb, the weather was unbelieveable (so we finished the weekend with some games on the beach before coming home) and the accomodation worked out really well for us (once John Macp persuded them to open earlier for breakfast).
 In the pool we had some excellent swims including a new SCOTTISH RECORD for Caitlin in the 50m free and a DISTRICT RECORD for Chris in the 200m breast (the previous record was held by Gav so we’re keeping it in the club). Chris and Caitlin were equal top of the Porty medals table, both winning 2 golds and a bronze. Ciaran also took a gold and added two bronzes. Raquel came close but had to settle for 3 silvers and a bronze. Niall won a silver and 2 bronzes, JJ won a silver with Gav and Cammy both winning a bronze. A further 8 swimmers took top 6 places so we had 16 different swimmers scoring points for the club. At the end of the weekend, we finished 7th in the top club race, out of around 40 clubs.
 The majority of our swims were PBs, with 5 swimmers (Abby, Kate, Katie, Cammy and Scott) all recording a PB in every swim and several people achieved bronze squad times. In particular, Ciaran got the 200m IM to give him a full set, Clare got the 400m free leaving her with just one to go and Abby got her breaststoke time and Cammy his 200m free time after a weekend of huge effort. Rory W got another one (200m back) so now just needs a 400m time and several people beat bronze squad times that they already hold. Â
  The Sunderland club have advised us that they be running this gala again next year so make sure you get involved when the time comes round. Thanks to the huge effort from the coaches (John, John and Lindsay) and also the numerous parents who were on hand to help in all manner of ways.
The first round of this year’s Leagues and we had 20 swimmers competing in each session, with the under 12s in the morning and the over 11s in the afternoon. The leagues are busier this year and the standard is even higher, especially in the morning. Michelle was our one winner in the morning, with Liall and Emma both taking top three places. Biggest improvements were Lewis and Ciara in the fly, Nieve in the IM and Stuart in the back.
 In the afternoon we had four excellent swims in the 200m free (especially Rory G), two huge improvements in the back (Sam and Douglas) and a tremendous swim from John in the 200m IM. Both of the 12/13 relay teams won their event and all four afternoon teams finished in the top three of their league.
Our new email is unfortunately down at the moment. We hope to have this rectified as soon as possible and will post again soon. In the meantime if you need to make contact with the Club please use moescoular@hotmail.com
An excellent weekend which saw two more Porty District Champions being crowned and the Club finishing 4th in the overall championship (Solripe Trophy) which is the highest we have ever achieved and also placed us at the 2nd top club in the Lothians.
 Sat started in spectacular fashion with Chris and Benjamin taking gold and silver in the 100m back. Raquel just missed a medal in the 100m free final and our 10/11 boys team won a bronze in the medley relay (including Sam Cooke in his first ever gala where both he and Aaron overcame lots of nerves and both swam really well). The 15/16 boys just missed a medal and the 10/11 girls finished a creditable 5th.
 The afternoon session saw Raquel winning another district medal, this time a silver in the 100m back. Benji (100m breast) and Niall (100m fly) also made their finals and the day concluded with the 10/11 boys and the 15/16 boys all winning bronze medals in the freestyle relay.
 Sunday morning produced another four individual finalists with Raquel winning an excellent 100m breast final (that makes her District Champion in both 100m + 200m breaststroke), and Louise taking fifth place in the same event with a good PB. Chris took silver in the 100m fly and our fourth finalist was James who qualified for the 100m free final with a breathtaking 55.47 sec swim in the heats - that was a 15 yrs silver squad time based on last year’s figures. The morning finished with the medlay relays where our excellent 13/14 girls team finished 4th in a very high calibre race.
 Sun afternoon saw Raquel and Chris both making their finals, Raquel took silver in a new PB in the 100m fly and Chris just missed a medal in the 100m free. Its worth noting the heats of the 12/13 boys fly where JJ swam a great race to record a huge PB and was a reserve for the final. Our last event of the weekend was the 13/14 boys freestyle relay, a team missing a couple of swimmers and whom we even considered withdrawing. The boys (John, Gavin, Rory M and JJ) swam out of their skins to record a 1:58.07 and take the bronze medal.
 Well done to everyone who swam across the 4 months of the Championships and thanks to all the coaches, officials and parents for making that the Club was well represented.
Our next bag pack will take place on Saturday, 28 March at Sainsbury’s at Meadowbank - everyone needed to make this a success. Please contact Janette Bell (Gillian’s mum) to book your slot! If you don’t know Janette ask your Coach.
This event gives swimmers a final opportunity to obtain long course times as qualifying times for this year’s Scottish National Age Group champs. A good number of our swimmers participated and produced numerous improvements;
Ian in the 50m breast, Nieve and Rory G in the 100m back, Abby and Kate in the 100m breast, JJ, Ciaran and Rory G in the 100m fly, Abby, Nieve and Ciaran in the 100m free, Benji in the 200m IM, Ciaran, Rory M, Kate, Fi and Louise all in the 400m free, Will in the 50m free, Kate, Robyn, Ciaran and Cammy in the 200m back, Abby, JJ and Rory W in the 200m breast and finally Michelle, Benji, JJ, Ian and Ciaran all in the 200m free.