Perth City Young Swimmers

It’s been another fantastic performance from the Perth City Swim Club in what has been a very successful year for the local swimmers.The team celebrated the end of the swim season with yet another clutch of medals in the Scottish Summer Meet in Edinburgh, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded alongside some other strong top eight finishes. The team celebrated the end of the swim season with yet another clutch of medals in the Scottish Summer Meet in Edinburgh, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded alongside some other strong top eight finishes.

In the boys’ 12-13 age group, youngster Jamie McGregor brought home the most successful haul with three medals. Jamie took gold in the 200m butterfly, silver in the 1500m freestyle and bronze in the 400m freestyle – a very impressive haul!

There was also success for Tom Jeffers, who took silver in the men’s 17 to 18 year-olds 1500m freestyle. Tom was following on from his busy schedule at the Scottish Open Championships and will be delighted with his performance in Edinburgh.

Butterfly specialist Freya Thomson put in a strong showing in the women’s 16 year-olds category with a fine performance in the 100m final she finished second and collected her silver medal from a host of senior Scottish athletes who were presenting the medals, which included former Perth City Swim club starlet Camilla Hattersley, who has represented Scotland as a finalist in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and also Team GB at the Rio Olympics.

There were also other Perth City Swim Club athletes who managed to make finals on the day, including Freya Bannerman, Alastair Cormack, Emma McPartland and Shona Graham.

Ann Dickson, Perth City’s head coach, was rightfully delighted with her team’s results in Edinburgh.

“Age group competition is never plain sailing in any sport. Just as the demands of school work kick in, the physical changes that take place due to growth patterns can lead to dips in performance, even for the most dedicated athletes.

“It’s about finding the right balance between managing these challenges along the way and continuing to commit to working on skill, strength and stamina as the body adapts. The club understands it’s all about improvement and our performance pathways are designed to support every athlete to help them achieve their individual goals.reward over the longer term, and our performance pathways are designed to support every athlete to help them achieve their individual goals.”

There’s now only the British Summer Meet left on the domestic calendar, and the majority of the Perth City Swim Club will now begin their summer rest period before training resumes in August. There will be some whose break will be delayed though – as three members of the team make the trip down south to Sheffield to compete against the best of the British Age Group competitors.

Jack Muncey, Luke Mitchell and European Junior medallist Scott McLay will head to Yorkshire to compete in the British, with Scott flying back from the Commonwealth Youth Games in Nassau to compete in the meet which begins on July 25^th. Scott is be chasing selection for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia and hopefully a strong performance in Sheffield will stand him in good stead.

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Perth City Swim Club is a competitive age group club based at Live Active Leisure’s Perth Leisure Pool. The next try out for new swimmers is expected to take place in November 2017. Information on joining the club as a swimmer or volunteer is available on the club’s website www.perthcityswimclub.com.