Portobello Amateur Swimming Club

We had a small team competing at this gala (only 9 swimmers across the 2 days) but they managed to finish the weekend as 3^rd top team in the competition.

  Chris led the way on the Sat, lifting 2 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronze and taking the Best Boy trophy as well.  Benji also won a gold as well as taking a 4^th and 6^th. Ellie took 4^th in the back and Ciara just missed a medal with an excellent swim in the 100m IM.

  Sunday was the turn of the 11/12 yrs and once again we won an ind. Trophy with Raquel winning Best Girl. She also won 3 golds and 2 silvers including a victory in a very close race for the 100m IM. Ciaran also had an excellent day, finishing second overall with one gold, 4 silvers and a bronze. Rory G took 5^th in the 50m free with an excellent PB and Amy went under 42 secs in the breaststroke to take 6^th place.

Our first ever open gala and it was a two day event. Before the results, we should recognise the huge effort put in by so many people before, during and after the weekend. Too many to mention individually but Susan and her gala committee deserve special praise and our good friend John Sluman saved the day as far as the officials were concerned.

   Saturday was the under 12s day and we had several swimmers winning medals in various events. Chris led the way with 3 golds and a silver, with Benjamin winning a gold, 2 silvers and a bronze in the same age group. Ciaran won a gold (in a fabulous 50m free race), a silver and 2 bronzes and Carys won a gold and a silver in the afternoon session. Katie Feather took the gold in the breaststoke and both Iona and Ciara won a bronze.

  Sunday was for the 12 and overs and a long list of swimmers won medals, led by Niall (3G , 2S + 1B), Raquel (3G + 1S) and Gavin (2G,1S + 1B). Robyn, Isla, James Daniel and Fraser all won a gold, whilst Alison (2), Erin, Gillian, Will, Daniel and Sam took silvers. Bronzes were won by Clare PB (2), Erin, Alison, Louise F, Jenny, Sam, James and JJ.

A small group of six swimmers attended this gala on the same day as the Lothian Leagues, as a final chance to make qualifying times for the SNAG meet.

   Our best performer was Ritchie who took gold in all three of his swims. His brother Jack won a gold and a silver in the 12 yrs age group and Niall took the bronze in the 100m fly. Thanks go to Pam who looked after the team on the day.

In the morning session we had teams in all age groups except 8/9 boys. All teams did really well though the 10/11 girls missed out on some points as speedy Keri was so quick in the 200m free and the fly. The 8/9 girls also had a good morning though only had 3 swimmers so missed out on the relay points. The 10/11 boys had an excellent morning, capped by Benji’s great 2^nd place in the fly and a convincing victory in the relay.

  The afternoon saw 5 teams across the 4 age groups, with lots of excellent swims including great PBs from Will and Callum. Top marks go to the boys 12/13 team with an excellent win in their relay and John McD producing two tremendous swims in the 200m free and the 100m back.  

A great team performance produced some superb swims and some fab results. Ciaran led the way with a silver and a bronze in the free and fly. Raquel and Katie Feather both made individual finals, each finishing 4^th (fly and breaststroke).

  Our relay team performed really well and we won bronze medals in three different age groups. The 10/11 boys (Rory G, Douglas, Sandy + Chris) took bronze in the freestyle, as did the 12/13 boys (Rory W, Lee, Rory M + Gavin). Our 12/13 girls A team (Clare PB, Clare H, Raquel + Erin) also won bronze, this time in the medlay relay. Special mention should go to the girls 10/11 team (Katie Ferg, Katie Feather, Keri + Kathryn) who finished 4^th in both events against three particularly strong teams. The big boys (14/15) finished 4^th and 5^th but most of them were only 14 so have another year in this age group.

   We also recorded some excellent PBs during the weekend including Clare H, Gillian, Niall and most impressively Rory W who was only swimmer in the whole club who made the finals session in all 4 strokes.