DURING three days of tremendous swimming at the Royal Commonwealth Pool on 12th-14th December, a small group of Carnegie performance swimmers broke 16 Scottish records and won seven junior titles.

The event, the Scottish Gas National Short Course Championships 2014, featured top swimmers from across the UK, including Commonwealth champions Dan Wallace and Hannah Miley as well as the Belgian national team.

Craig McLean got things off to a flying start with a record-breaking heat swim in the first event, the 50 metres freestyle. This Scottish junior record time qualified him for the final later that evening where he won the Scottish junior title. He claimed three further records on Friday, the most dramatic being his 200m backstroke swim where he lowered the previous Scottish junior record by almost three seconds. He showed his versatility by adding the Scottish junior 100m individual medley title to his backstroke and freestyle titles later that evening, in another Scottish junior record time.

With the help of Craig Barnes, Cameron Nelson and Jack Szaranek, the quartet broke the Scottish national junior record in the 200m medley relay, lowering the record set in 2011 by fellow Carnegie swimmers by almost three seconds. McLean’s lead-off leg on the 50m backstroke was also a Scottish junior record.

By the close of swimming on Friday, McLean had broken 10 individual Scottish records and one relay record. He added to this on Saturday by winning the 100m freestyle Scottish junior title adding another Scottish club and national junior record in the 200m freestyle relay with team-mates Aaron Gillan, Jack Szaranek and Craig Barnes. The last day of racing saw McLean take the 100m back Scottish junior title as well as helping his team achieve another Scottish national junior record in the 400m free relay.

Tain Bruce continued her record-breaking form with another Scottish junior record in the 200m butterfly. This won her the first of her Scottish junior titles of the weekend. She was also crowned Scottish junior champion in the 100m butterfly and the 400m individual medley. Bruce was also part of the girls’ medley relay team along with Lauren Sutherland, Tara Haworth and Erin Rafferty where they just missed out on the junior title after a great swim in the afternoon heats. The girls’ freestyle relay team on day two of the competition consisted of Bruce, Claire Maloney, Erin Rafferty and Tara Haworth.

Other swimmers competing at the weekend were Samantha Caulfield and Craig Barnes. Caulfield, swimming as a senior for the first time, swam a number of personal best times to qualify for numerous finals; in the 50m and 100m freestyle and 50m breaststroke. Barnes swam his way into the men’s 200m breaststroke final in an event featuring Michael Jamieson among others.

A number of younger swimmers also achieved qualification times for the event and swam with distinction against a top-class field. They will look forward to returning in later years.