Portobello Amateur Swimming Club

Congratulations to our 11 swimmers who have qualified for finals day at Scottish Schools Champs at the end of Jan (Sat 30th @ Tollcross). Ellie (50m back) and Katie (100m breast) have both qualified in the top half dozen times in their event and JJ, Rory M and Gavin have all qualified for two finals each.

Our other finalists are Rory W (200 IM), Zoe and Emma (50m breast), Rory G (100m fly), John (100m back) and Daniel (reserve in 100m free). Raquel, Chris and Niall have also qualified so we will have a good presence at the Champs in Jan.

This year we reverted to the all inclusive format, so the event was open to all swimmers. That meant we had swimmers from 7 (Erin) to 40+ and included numerous water polo players and a game mum (well done Adele, it was very brave to compete against your four kids).

11 heats produced some excellent swims, none more so than Morgan who won her heat by a mile making a mockery of her initial handicap. There were several families who produced great results, especially the Urquharts, Gallachers and McKays who all had two swimmers in the semi finals. Some of the best PBs in the heats were from Bethany, Erin B, Iona, Nicole, Ciara, Michelle, Fraser M, Ryan and Rory M.

We then had five semi-finals with only the winner progressing to the final. This resulted in even closer races as the handicaps were revised after the first round. Once again Morgan won her race, as did Iona, Laura, Rory G and Nielson (who won a very quick race in 26.5 secs).

The final was a great spectacle, with little Morgan (only 8) competing against two 12 year olds, a 13 yr old and a 30 something giant of water polo. The bronze medal went to Laura with another excellent PB, Neilson took the silver (despite going under 26.5 in the final) and the champion this year is Rory G who swam out of his skin going under 30 secs for the first time.

Many thanks to the parents who came to support an add to the atmosphere and to the time keepers who helped the evening run so well. Finally, a huge thanks to Jack who kept everyone right and to Jeanette who kept the results in order and made sure we allocated the appropriate new handicaps.

The second round of the event saw us win our first medal of this season’s championships. Ellie swam a fantastic 9 sec PB to take the silver in the 200m back and she was closing the gap on the eventual winner all the way through the final 50m. JJ had another excellent day, making the qualifying final of the 100m fly and then finishing 3rd with a great PB to qualify for the finals weekend - that’s now five Portobello boys in the finals session in the 14/15 yrs 100m fly.

Nieve also had a great weekend, securing her 400m free bronze squad time for next year to become our first swimmer to obtain a complete set for 2010/11. The older boys producd some strong 400m free swims too, with John, Rory M and Niall all swimming excellent PBs. Other good PBs came from Rory W in the 200m breast and Ciara in the 200m back.

More silverware for Portobello as the swimmers retained the Haddington President’s Trophy with an excellent team performance. We won by a bigger margin than last year using more swimmers so congratulations go to the whole team. Top points scorers were Stuart and Kate and biggest PBs went to Jade, Megan, Jamie, Rosanna and Stuart.

Its a dificult meet to follow as a spectator as the time bands can result in the ‘winner’ of a heat scoring no points whilst the 2nd or 3rd placed swimmer picks up maximum points. That said, we led right from start and when the points were announced after the fly we were the top team. That lead grew as each stroke was completed and by the end we won comfortably.

Many thanks to the parents who came to cheer on the team and special thanks go to those swimmers who only had one swim but who competed really well and contributed valuable points to the team score.

Last weekend we had the annual Scottish cup finals at Tollcross in Glasgow and I am delighted to report that we had Portobello success.  Portobello and Warrender entered a combined team in the Under 15 competion, (the majority of the team were Portobello boys), and are Scottish champions!!!  They beat Dunfermline 13-12 in the semi-final on Saturday and beat Hamilton quite easily on Sunday.  This is the first time Portobello have won a “junior” competition for approx. 25yrs so big well done to all.  Thanks to the parents who helped with transport/came to support and to Fraser Rutherford for coaching.  Well done boys-excellent stuff!!!

 

The senior team won their respective competion for the 13th time in the past 14yrs so double champions for Portobello, they beat Dunfermline on Saturday and Menziehill in the final on Sunday.