Fins Competitive Swim Club: Nine medals as Kirkcaldy aces start 2023 in style

The venue was Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool for the Scottish East District Age Group Championships, with Fins’ 11 competitors landing 39 PBs from the 41 swims they contested.

Top Fins performer was Erin Taylor, 17 and over girls, who claimed a 200m breaststroke silver medal in 2mins 35.23secs and a 50m breaststroke bronze in 34secs, only losing in both events to swimmers aged 20 or over from Edinburgh University Swim Team.

Both Taylor’s times were Fins club records and she retains second place in the 200m breaststroke Scottish rankings, closing the gap on Nula Gow of Garioch to just 0.77 seconds.

In the national 50m breaststroke standings, Taylor is third in the 18 years girls category, just three one hundredth of a second behind second-placed Anglo-Scot Naomi McGuire of City of Leicester and 0.67 adrift of top ranked swimmer Kiera Davidson, City of Glasgow.

Fins clubmate Irys Blair, 13 years girls, won the 200m backstroke with a 12.23 second PB and the 200m freestyle with a 10.25 second PB, which should rank her second in the Scottish rankings in both classes.

Blair was also fourth in the 50m backstroke, sixth in the 200m breaststroke and was first reserve for the final of the 50m freestyle (ninth overall).

In winning the 11/12 years boys 200m butterfly, Ethan Pate’s time of 3mins 26.36secs should put him first in the 12 years boys Scottish rankings.

Pate also won silvers in both the 200m backstroke and 200m freestyle and was fourth in the 50m freestyle, fifth in the 200m breaststroke, seventh in the 50m breaststroke and eighth in the 50m butterfly.

Adam Selbie won the 13 years boys 200m backstroke in 2mins 44.15secs, to be top of the 13 years boys Scottish rankings. He also took silver in the 200m butterfly and bronze in the 200m freestyle, plus fifth in the 50m backstroke, the 50m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke and eighth in the 50m backstroke.

Three more Fins’ swimmers achieved top 10 placings and they were:

Lillian Blair, 11/12 girls, sixth in the 50m breaststroke and ninth in the 50m backstroke. She was fastest 11-year-old in both events.

Caleb Gray, 11/12 boys, sixth in the 200m freestyle and ninth in the 50m butterfly, and Steven Pate, 16 years boys, seventh in the 50m breaststroke.