BORDERS swimmers have been making a splash at the 2013 British Age Group & Youth Swimming Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.
Kelso ASC trio Kirsty Armstrong, Ryan Brown and Lucy Hope won one bronze medal, broke 13 national and district records and contested 10 British finals between them.
Borders Elite Swim Team (BEST) placed 24th on the team points score, a great achievement considering there were hundreds of teams from all over Britain represented at the competition.
BEST was the fourth-placed Scottish team.
Kirsty, 13, won bronze in the 100m butterfly, breaking the Scottish and East District age group record in a time of 1.03.58.
BEST performance coach Alex Jordan said: “While there were some good performances from the trio, and plenty of records were broken, the athletes were too often performing below their potential.
“They know this and, after they enjoy a break now after a long season, I’m sure they’ll be itching to get back to training to make amends.”
Jordan added: “Overall, these three athletes and the performance squad as a whole have had an outstanding season and we’re keen to do even better next season.”
It has been a remarkable year – some of the more outstanding team achievements of this season include: Lucy becoming the first member of the team to win a European junior medal and Scottish Open titles; winning 26 Scottish national gold medals (18 in 2012); breaking 17 Scottish age group records (12 in 2012); and breaking 55 district records (40 in 2012).