Medal success for Thurso swimmers at age group championships in Aberdeen
Seven members of the Thurso Amateur Swimming Club "A" squad headed to Aberdeen Sports Village over the last weekend of March to compete in the North district age group championships, which were combined with the Midlands district championships.
Qualification was even more of a challenge due to swimmer numbers being impacted by the combined competitions but Thurso were represented by Emily MacDougall in the age 12/13 section, Megan Mackay, Craig Campbell, Jed Armitage and Tom Armitage in 14/15 years, Keira Bain in 16/17 years and Andrew Campbell (18-plus).
A great weekend of long course (50m pool) swimming saw the Thurso team come home with two gold medals, courtesy of Andrew (200m fly) and Emily (200m back); three silver medals, achieved by Tom (200m back, 100m back) and Emily (100m back); and two bronze medals, from Tom (50m back) and Emily (100m free).
The swimmers were well supported by their team-mates who cheered them loudly throughout the weekend and enjoyed celebrating their medal successes with them.
The team also competed in the following finals: Tom – 200m IM, 100m free and 100m fly; Keira – 100m fly, 50m free and 50m fly, competing at the younger end of the 16/17 age group; Andrew – 100m fly; and Emily – 50m free and 50m back.
The highlight of the weekend for Megan was her 100 fly final, one of her reserve swims. She just missed out on a place in the finals in a gutsy long-course performance.
Jed and Craig, also competing at the lower end of their age group, swam well across their respective events. Jed had nine swims and Craig five in total.
Jed was particularly delighted with his 200m fly swim for which he achieved a club record. Craig’s 100m free and 100m fly deserved special mention – two great PBs.
All seven swimmers recorded a sweep of long-course PBs. In addition, 13 long-course club records were broken across the age groups and five swimmers have achieved a range of qualifying and consideration times for the upcoming Scottish national age groups.
A club spokesperson said: "Every one of our swimmers should be proud of themselves and what they have achieved individually and as part of our swimming family as we emerge out of lockdown and focus once again on building up the club."
The first Pentland Pentaqua competition took place on March 20 in the East Caithness Community Facility in Wick.
Orkney ASC, Wick ASC and Thurso ASC agreed to hold a three-way competition for the 8/9 years, 10/11 years, 12/13 years and 14 and over age groups. The aim was to get the younger swimmers back competing with swimmers from other clubs and to reinforce a sense of team spirit and friendship in sport.
The competition provided opportunities for swimmers to gain times or improve their existing times, with medals and team points to be won.
The relays at the end of each session were fiercely contested and the volume levels demonstrated how passionate each club was for its team members.
Thurso ASC were victorious. Final points: Thurso 409; Orkney 344; Wick 284.
These points will be carried over to round two, to be held later in the year.
The 2021 Thurso ASC gala took place in December behind closed doors – although, so as not to disappoint all the parents at home, it was live-streamed and accompanied by an entertaining commentary from the swimmers not in the water.
The presentation evening took place at the town's Royal British Legion club on March 11.
This year there was an extra trophy to present – the Andy Foster Memorial Trophy. Andy, who was head coach at Thurso ASC for almost 20 years, died at the start of lockdown.
It was agreed that in his memory a trophy to represent all that he valued in his swimmers would be most fitting – exemplary commitment and engagement with their training and a positive attitude. The coaches chose the swimmers in all four squads whom they felt best represented these qualities.
The first winner of the Andy Foster Memorial Trophy was Andrew Campbell ("A" squad) and the commended runners-up were Phoebe Bain ("B" squad), Sophie Noble ("C" squad) and Angus Porteous ("D" squad).
Tanya Sutherland, the TASC "D" squad coach, presented the prizes.
