DUNFERMLINE swimmer Lauren Pirouet, competing for FIRST (Falkirk Integrated Swim Team), enjoyed national level success at the Scottish Gas National Open Swimming Championships help at the Tollcross International Pool, Glasgow, recently.

The National Championships doubled as being the first stage of the Commonwealth trials in which prospective team members must firstly achieve nomination times and then also place within the top three swimmers to secure a berth for consideration onto the Scottish Commonwealth team. The meet also allowed the Commonwealth Games organisers to run a full test event to ensure the smooth running in a couple of months.

Pirouet (14), competing in predominantly freestyle events over the distances of 100 metres, 200m, 400, 800 and 1500m, enjoyed invaluable experience of competing against Scotland's finest swimmers seeking to obtain qualification times for the Commonwealth Games, with Pirouet recording a number of fine swims over the course of the four days.

It was, however, within the relay events that Pirouet, along with her team-mates Chanel Sneddon, Jenna Lafferty and Katie Taylor, excelled within the women's 4x200m freestyle relay on the opening night of the competition.

Expectations to secure the accolade of Scottish national junior champions were within grasp for the young team, however, they surpassed this with an outstanding display of strong swimming from the outset of the final with all four swimmers displaying exceptional delivery of each leg to not only take the junior title but also win the overall event to be crowned Scottish national champions in a time of 8:46.55, some five seconds ahead of second-placed Warrender Baths of Edinburgh.

The team and their fellow athletes now focus their attention on the Scottish Gas National Age Group Championships being hosed in Aberdeen in June.