Scorpion Swim Team

Corrie Irvine 100 Back – 1.42.46 -100 FREE -1.30.46 -100 Breastroke -1.48.53

Sophie Paliczka 100 Back-1.31.05-100 Free Heat -1.23.79 Final 1.21.87-100 Breastroke 1.49.45

Jessica Anderson 100 Back- 1.46.67- 100 FREE -1.37.99

Lola Taylor 50 Breastroke -53.48- 50 Back 56.32 -50 FREE -56.48

Hamish Lough- 50 Free -40.37

Scott Mcfarlane 50 Free -54.47

Niamh Rawlins- 50 Free -51.10

This was a gala which came quite quickly after the Xmas break however the swims by all were outstanding. It was a first introduction to some who swam the 100 metres distance and they coped fairly well. For a first outing at this distance stamina is the main issue and this will be covered by me in training sessions over the next month or so.

NIamh produced a fast time in her free which shows the improvement in her training so well done. Also Scott had a great free time and that was despite his goggles coming off but he kept going. So delighted he kept his head and battled on it could not have been easy for him. Jessica produced great times in her swims particularly as this was her first swims over the four length format well done Jess. Lola had a great breastroke which is her favorite stroke and posted good times for all her swims, Hamish had an outstanding swim in his freestyle and posted a very fast time indeed. In fact it was fast enough to break the club record so tremendous effort from him and well done

Sophie and Corrie swam very well and posted times that were too fast receiving medals and six points and a fine for their parents. Sophie made the final on her free and clocked a two second personal best from her heat time finishing second overall that is despite having just recovered from a bout of illness. Corrie is rapidly improving her breastroke and her stamina levels which is all good news so keep flying in training.

As per usual the swimmers were backed by the parents from the front row of the balcony. How they manage to get front row seats again is a mystery to be honest although there is a rumour going around that they camped out all night. A big thanks to Susan running this one without a printer how she does it is also a mystery at times. From my point of view we are slightly ahead of schedule but only by a small margin and there is a lot of hard work ahead particularly as a lot of our swimmers will be dealing with 100 metre or longer swims from now on so the training will be tough for a while. That having been said those who train hard will reap the benefits by lowering their times as there is no easy way of doing this.
So onwards and upwards for the year ahead and I have to say we have a great amount of talent breaking through which all goes well for the future

Colin Galbraith Headcoach Scorpion Swim Team

I decided to not split this report into morning and afternoon to simplify matters given that there were so many personal bests. So I will post the results for all swims and then individually comment on each swimmer.

Sophie – 50 Back 40.24 PB -50 FREE 36.80 PB-100 IM 1.30.05 PB

STELLA – 50 BREAST 57.15 PB -50 FREE 46.78 PB

CORRIE – 50 BREAST – 50.75 PB- 50 FREE 42.73 PB

FREYA – 50 FREE 43.26 PB

JESSICA – 50 FREE 44.41 PB

HAMISH – 50 FREE 42.24

EMMA 50 BACK 38.92 PB 100 FREE 1.14.18 PB

TIM 50 BACK 34.03 PB 100 FREE 1.05.89

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KARA 50 BREAST 49.79 PB

WILLIS CHAN 50 BREAST 39.31 PB 100 FREE 1.09.23 PB

MIGUEL 50 BREAST 45.69 PB 100 FREE 1.16.31

Where do you start in what became a feast of personal bests something I have never come across in 16 years coaching this club. The young ones in the morning had massive personal bests. I would like to point out the swimmers who swam for the first time ie Jess – Freya and Hamish as the times posted by them were nearly all by a margin which exceeded both Susan and my expectations. Sophie smashed her Free and Back and IM despite the latter swim having a dodgy turn from back to breast. Corrie smashed her breaststroke and with correct head position looks class. Hamish despite only having learnt to dive and touching on his turn rather than tumbling posted 42 secs which quite frankly was outstanding and I was lost for words so well done indeed .
KARA PBd on her 50 breast despite not being 100%. I also would like to thank her for helping with the younger swimmers in the morning it helped a lot. Emma had a great backstroke and was gutted at her time on her Free despite a personal best. She would have gone 1.13 low if she had spotted her finish it’s just a matter of time till she breaks 1.13. Miguel had a great 50 breast but that was outshone by a 1.16 on his 100 Free and there is more to come. Willis had two outstanding pbs and admitted that he has to train harder but so pleased to see him in the water competing so well done to Willis. Tim broke his own free record going 1.05 despite having to fiddle with his goggles three times .That cost him at least two seconds so he can definitely go 1.03 or lower.

All in all a brilliant gala and it is so obvious everyone in the team support each other which is what it is all about. We are fast becoming recognized as an up and coming swim club and recognized as posting very fast times across the team. I would like to thank Susan for all her coaching efforts and to Kara for her assisting at the gala . A special mention to Emma as she was upset at the small mistake which would have smashed her PB but that shows she cares and it will come good of that I have no doubt.

Last but by no means least a big thanks to all the parents who were at the gala cheering the team on as it made a huge difference. How they all managed to get front row seats in the balcony I will never know.
So proud of all who took part however this is just the start of great things to come.

Report compiled by Colin Galbraith Headcoach scorpion Swim Team