MEMBERS of the BEST (Borders Elite Swim Team) Performance Squad showed their class at the third and final round of the 2012-2013 East District Age Group Championships.
The team won 14 medals – eight gold, four silver and two bronze – and also claimed two Scottish age group records, two East District age group records and two top swimmer awards.
Kelso ASC took third place on the club point score – a significant achievement for a club with such a small membership.
Kelso ASC member Kirsty Armstrong took four golds and one silver from five swims.
Armstrong, 13, won gold in the 100m butterfly in Scottish and East District Age Group Record time. She also took gold in the 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle, and silver in the 100m backstroke. Armstrong’s results over the three rounds earned her the top girl award for the 13 years category.
Armstrong’s Kelso teammate, Ryan Brown, scored two gold, a silver and a bronze, which helped to secure him the 15 years top boy award. Brown cruised to victory in the 100m butterfly, breaking the 60-second barrier in a long course (50m) pool for the first time. The all-rounder won a thrilling down-to-the-wire battle in the 200m individual medley before claiming silver in the 100m backstroke and bronze in the 100m breaststroke. Brown narrowly missed the podium in the 100m freestyle, placing fourth by 0.14sec.
Lucy Hope, 16, also a member of Kelso ASC, had a stellar weekend, breaking Scottish and East District Age Group Records and winning two gold and one silver. Hope took gold in the 100m backstroke, in record time, and the 100m freestyle, while her bronze medal was hard earned in the 200m individual medley. Hope also recorded a significant PB to place sixth in the final of the 100m butterfly.
Morgan Anderson was the fourth Kelso ASC member to mount the podium at the competition. Anderson took silver in the 15 years 100m breaststroke. Anderson also placed fourth in the final of the 200m individual medley and sixth in the 100m freestyle.
Other team members to contest district finals were Lizi Clelland, 13 years, of Kelso ASC (fourth in the 100m freestyle, seventh 200m individual medley); Finlay Dewar, 13 years, of Peebles ASC (fifth 100m backstroke, eighth 200m individual medley, eightth 100m freestyle); Matthew Berlansky, 15 years, of Gala ASC (eighth 200m individual medley, eighth 100m breaststroke); and Gregor Swinney, 15 years, of Peebles (eighth 100m butterfly).
The following swimmers also contributed to the team’s noteworthy PB record for the weekend: Jenny Adams, Morvern Anderson, Emma Paterson and Amy Richardson, all of Kelso ASC, Rob Czajka of Gala ASC, and Kathryn Swinney of Peebles ASC.
Kelso ASC head coach, and BEST assistant coach, Caroline Brown said: “We are proud of how the Kelso swimmers performed over the three rounds of the championships. Access to the services of the BEST Programme, in conjunction with the training we can offer at the club, certainly is a great contributor to our members’ success. The Borders as a whole should be very proud as the region was extremely well represented across the board.”