CoG Fifteen swimmers from North Ayrshire Amateur Swimming Club last week took part in a two-day graded meet hosted by the City of Glasgow Swim Team at Tollcross Leisure Centre in Glasgow. This event attracted a huge field of competitors from all over Scotland, giving swimmers a chance to compete in the 50m pool which is to be the venue for the swimming events in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with many experiencing the challenge of a long-course pool for the first time. All of the North Ayrshire swimmers achieved excellent Personal Best times and seven were among the medal winners. Robyn Stewart (15) had a fantastic clean sweep of four gold medals over the meet in the four distances of the girls' age 15-16 category Freestyle from 50m to 400m. Younger sister, Maggie (14), swam in an energy-sapping eight events in the girls 13-14 age group, collecting a silver in the 400m Freestyle and a bronze in the 200m Individual Medley . Catriona Fowlie (10) excelled at the end of a long day in the gruelling 100m Butterfly to win her second gold of the meet in the age 7-10 category, following on from a gold in the 50m Backstroke. Gina Allan (11) was superb, responding to the test of the long-course pool, as she won gold in the age 11 category 100m Freestyle and silver in the 100m Breaststroke. Also in the 100m Freestyle, Rheanna Sloss (14) collected a silver in the age 13-14 category with Eilidh Love (10) winning bronze in the 7-10 age category to add to the silver she achieved in the 100m Breaststroke. Completing the medal haul was Alison Hughes (14) with a bronze in the age 13-14 50m Backstroke.

Scottish Gas National Short Course Championships A team of young swimmers from North Ayrshire Amateur Swimming Club competed successfully at the recent South Ayrshire Mini Meet held at the Citadel Leisure Centre in Ayr. This gala is aimed at swimmers aged up to 12 years old and is a good opportunity to measure development against swimmers from clubs all over West Central Scotland. At the top of the medal table was Eilidh Love (10) who picked up three gold medals in the 10 year old age category, in the 50m and 200m Freestyle and, with a superb swim beating the second-placed swimmer by almost 3 seconds, in the 100m Individual Medley. Eilidh also collected a silver medal in the 50m Breaststroke and a bronze in the 50m Backstroke. In the same age group, Catriona Fowlie (10) scooped gold in the 50m Butterfly, silver in the 50m Backstroke and bronze in the 200m Freestyle. Gabby Black (9) was back in the medals with an impressive collection of five silvers, an achievement matched for the boys in the same age category by Mark Hughes. Glen Duffy (10) may need to extend his medal storage area after a fantastic day with six medals, including gold in the 50m Backstroke, four silvers and a bronze. Other North Ayrshire swimmers on the medal podium were Angus Dickson (10) with two bronze, with other bronze medals won by Katie Inch (9), Briony Thomson (9) and Emma Scully (8), with an impressive swim in the 8-9 age group 200m Freestyle. Mention also of young Rory Dickson (8) who showed great potential with his five swims. Although not a club event, it is appropriate to record the recent medal-winning achievements of club swimmers in the 2010 Scottish Schools Championships with gold medals won by Jordan and Ross Hughes (Ardrossan Academy) and Jennifer King (Brisbane Primary School).

Scottish Gas National Short Course Championships A team of 13 top swimmers represented North Ayrshire Amateur Swimming Club at the recent Scottish Gas National Short Course Championships swam over three days at Tollcross Leisure Centre in Glasgow. This year more North Ayrshire swimmers qualified than in 2009 and they qualified to swim in more events. 11 year old Jennifer King was outstanding, breaking three Scottish age group records. The Nationals are for Scotland's fastest swimmers and even achieving the qualification times is a huge challenge. Amongst the swimmers competing at Tollcross was Scotland's Hannah Miley who represented Great Britain in the 2008 Olympics and recently became European short course champion in the 400m Individual Medley, showing the high level of competition in the Nationals. Jennifer King finished thirteenth in the Open 200m Backstroke, an event won by the 20 year old Olympian, Hannah Miley, and smashed the Scottish age group record in doing so. Jennifer also swam her way to Scottish age group records in the 800m Freestyle and the 400m Individual Medley. Jordan Hughes (13) also excelled, breaking the West District age group record in the 400m Freestyle as he finished seventh in the 15 year old and under category. The other team members also made the most of the opportunity to swim at this high level, with Personal Bests being recorded, almost right across the board. Congratulations go to Kerry Andrew, Graham Brown, Heather McClymont, Julie McClymont, Sarah Reford, Rheanna Sloss, Maggie Stewart and Robyn Stewart. Head Coach, Sharon Welsh, said, "It was really pleasing to achieve such good results so early in the year and the number of swimmers who qualified shows some of the progress we are making". Special mention goes to the Young Masters from the Club, Pamela Wright (22), Graeme Wallace (20) and brother Stuart Wallace (17) who qualified for the Championships, fitting training in around work and other commitments, showing that with huge amounts of dedication it is possible to continue to swim to a high level.

Milngavie and Bearsden Swimmers from North Ayrshire Amateur Swimming Club began 2010 successfully, picking up where they left off before the Christmas holiday break from competition. The New Year kicked off with the Milngavie and Bearsden Graded Meet held at Johnstone Pool. This was an opportunity for experienced swimmers to try to improve their Personal Best ("PB") times and for some of the recent new joiners to the Club to experience the excitement of competition for the first time. Amy MacPherson won gold in the 12 year old 200m Individual Medley in a PB, also winning a bronze in the 200m Freestyle with another PB. Younger sister Ailie was also in among the medals, picking up a silver in the 11 year old 200m Individual Medley and bronze in the 50m Breaststroke, also recording PBs. Alison Hughes (14) swam her way to two silvers, one in the 200m Freestyle and another in the 200m Individual Medley in the 13-14 age group category. Among the younger swimmers, Jasmine McKillop had a great swim in the 9 year old 50m Freestyle to win a silver with a very good PB and older sister Jade picked up a bronze in the 200m Backstroke for 13-14 year olds. For the boys, Christopher Liechti (13) recorded 4 very good PBs in his 4 events in the 13-14 age group. It's always exciting and nerve-racking for swimmers and their parents entering their first competitive gala and congratulations go to Abbie Freeman (8), Gina McGill (10), Zoe Nix (11) and Meredith Scott (8) for competing enthusiastically and recording their first PBs, giving them times to beat next time out.

West Districts What a fantastic end to the year for North Ayrshire Amateur Swimming Club at the Tryst Pool Cumbernauld, where at this last event of the West District 2008/09 calendar the Club secured an impressive tally of points to win the Mary Black Trophy. This is the first time NAASC has won this prestigious Award and caps off a wonderful year for the Club, who earlier this year won the two Clyde Coast competitions - Mini-League and the Winter League. Going into this final round of West District group meetings, NAASC were lying in second place, 40 points behind City of Glasgow, generally regarded as the strongest Club out of the 30 in the District. However, by the end of the last event on the Sunday afternoon over the weekend of 28th/29th November an across the board performance by our swimmers meant that 'NAASC' overtook 'City of Glasgow Swim Team' and claimed first place ahead of 'Falkirk Otters'. The final points score for the year: " 1st NAASC 832 2nd Falkirk Otters 806 3rd City of Glasgow Swim Team 761 Highlights over the weekend included Ross Hughes securing four West District Records and named 'Best Boy' (11), Jordan Hughes won 'Best Boy' (13) securing on his way 4 British (ASA) entry times for 2010, Jennifer King recorded 2 West District and 2 Scottish Records and won 'Best Girl' (11) and Demi Orr (10) achieved a West District Record in her 800m Freestyle. Along with all those medals won,19 Gold, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze, championship points and impressive Personal Bests were recorded by others, John Wright PB'd 4 out of 4, Eilidh Love 3 out of 3, Kristin Andrew 3 out of 4, Rowan Smith 1 out of 2. Once again it cannot be underestimated what your local competitive swim club has achieved this year where we really are, in terms of funding and Club membership, "a small fish swimming in a big pool"! As this is the last Gala Report for 2009, the Committee would like to congratulate all those swimmers for their achievements this year, whether learning to dive off the starting blocks or winning Golds at the British Nationals at Sheffield. We would also like to recognise the massive efforts of all the volunteer coaches and poolside helpers led by Head Coach Sharon Welsh and ably assisted by Sally Brown. You should rightly be proud of your local swimming club.

Graded Meet North Ayrshire Amateur Swimming Club held it's 'Graded' meeting over the weekend of 7th & 8th November at 'Harvies' Leisure Pool and the Club was delighted to welcome a clubs from the length and breadth of the country. This particular event generally allows younger and emerging swimmers, as well as swimmers who perhaps don't normally swim at District or National level, to compete with others of a similar ability. It is always well supported and generally generates a greater atmosphere than 'Open' events. This weekend was apparently no exception where the report was a "lively meet" with great vocal support coming from the spectators. Gaby Black (9) won 2 golds & 2 silvers, Catriona Campbell (16) won a gold, 3 silvers and a bronze, Jade MacKillop (13) won a gold, silver and a bronze, Rowan Smith (12) and Alison Hughes (14) both won a gold and a silver, and Gina Allan (11) and Sarah Reford (13) won a gold each. However, the most impressive results were the number of PB's recorded by the likes of Rowan, Sarah, Eilidh Love and Kirsten Andrew. The boys performed similarly well, with Glen Duffy (10) having a great weekend recording 4 Pb's and securing 2 golds for his 400 m freestyle and 200m backstroke events. David Campbell (20) won 2 golds and 2 silvers, Mark Hughes won gold, 2 silvers and a bronze, Angus Dickson (10) won gold & 2 silvers, John Wright (12) and Nathan Priceman (9) both won gold, Michael Thompson (15) won 3 silvers and Andrew Dickson secured a silver in his 200 m IM. Again, the most gratifying aspect of the performance put in by the boys was the number of PB's recorded - Andrew & Angus Dickson, Glen, Michael, Lewis Henry and Jordi Young. Detail results for every event can be located on the clubs web site: : www.naasc.co.uk A number of these swimmers will be amongst those being with Club Championship shields at this Friday's 'Awards Evening' being held at 'Fiddlers Nightspot'. All Club members are invited to attend (7 -9pm) where fun evening is promised - please remember to bring food and something to drink. Don MacKillop promises to give a prize to best 'Dad Dancing' performed on the evening!