Charlie ends club's medal drought in Edinburgh

Step Rock swimmers were on form at the capital meet.

The event was held recently at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh.

Buoyed by a collective team spirit which saw Fife clubs Burntisland, Glenrothes, Cupar and Step Rock, along with West Lothian club Swim IT warm-up on poolside together, Step Rock swimmer Charlie was in confident mood ahead of taking to the water.

Seeded fourth, Charlie raced to a new PB in the preliminary heats and went into the final as third fastest.

Determined to hold onto his placing and possibly even better it, Charlie shot off the blocks and was neck-and-neck with the leaders in an exciting battle, eventually taking third place in another new PB of 31.69 seconds.

This was Charlie’s last race in a highly successful meet, which also saw him qualify for five other finals, as well as an eighth place in the 200m individual medley.

Step Rock was well-represented at the championships, with Kayla Bain (50m breaststroke), Jack Webster (100m breaststroke and 50m freestyle), Isla Thoms (50m butterfly), Isla Hedley (50m and 100m butterfly), Russell Laker (50m all strokes, and 100m breaststroke and freestyle) and Daniel Wilson (50m and 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 100m breaststroke) all making their debuts at East District level.

More experienced Step Rock swimmers to qualify for the championships were Hamish Noble (eight swims), David de Wolff (three swims), Anna Hedley (nine swims), Mairi Noble (six swims) and Isaac Laker (four swims). Hamish, in particular, swam well, recording seven PBs out of his 8eight swims, including a ninth place overall in the 50m breaststroke.

Last success of the weekend went to former club president, Neale Laker, who passed his judge one exam at the championships.