SWIMMERS from the Garnock Valley and Three Towns are celebrating a stunning weekend of success at the North Ayrshire Junior Meet. with the home team claiming an astonishing 105 medals.

The team saw 27 of their swimmers getting onto the podium during the two days of competition at Auchenharvie against clubs from across the west of Scotland with even more achieving top six placings and posting new Personal Bests.

The breakdown of the medals shows just how well they did with 46 of them being gold, 29 silver and 31 bronze.

“It was a smashing weekend,” said Junior Coach, Alan Dickson.

“We had a lot of younger swimmers who were having to compete at a higher standard than they’ve been used to, stepping up and taking on bigger events – things like 200m Backstroke and 200m IM – and doing really well. A lot of them have stretched themselves and learned a lot.”

Nine-year-old Kate Stuart from Dalry was among the gold medallists, taking age group wins in the 50m and 200m breaststroke events as well as a second in the 200m IM and third places in the 50m and 200m Backstroke races.

Elder brother James (11) was one of the youngest swimmers to attempt the exhausting 200m Fly and got a gold medal as his reward. He also won silvers in the 200m Breast and 200m Back.

Evie Chan (8) from Stevenston, was quite literally in seventh heaven with her win in the 200m Free and six other podium visits with second places in the 50m Fly, 50m Free, 200m Breast and 200m IM and two of bronze medals in the 50m Back and Breast events.

Her sister Caelin, who has just stepped up into the 10-year-old category, posted some very impressive PBs and claimed top six placings in the 200m Free and 200m Breast.

Jude Friels from Dalry, took one home one of each colour with a win in the 50m Fly, second in the 200m Free and third in the 50m Back for nine-year-olds, while his big brother, Gavin, had two wins in the 11-year-old group in the 100m and 200m Breast and also claimed a third in the 200m Free.

Some of the most intense and competitive racing over the weekend was in the middle age groups, with sometimes as many as 18 swimmers in each category.

Dalry’s Fraser Cowie is another swimmer who has made a step up after turning 10 but still managed to come out on top in the 50m Fly and claimed four other medals with a silver in the 50m Breast and bronzes in the 200m Breast, 200m IM and 50m Free.

For the girls, Rachel McGuire (12) from Saltcoats, raced to a win in the 100m Free and took silver in the 100m Breast.

Dickson was delighted to see so many swimmers stepping onto the podium and said:“It’s good to see us well represented in all age groups, I think nearly everyone was getting placed or medals with some really impressive swims and big PBs, and one or two of them who’ve threatened to post some big times for a while stepped up this weekend and brought their racing mindset along.

“There’s been a really positive attitude towards racing as well as just making it look good.”

Many of the teenagers who recently represented North Ayrshire at the Scottish National Age Group Championships were in imperious form.

Rachael Grant (14) from Beith, took wins in the 400m Free and 200m Breast and second places in the 100m Breast and Free.

In a strong showing from the girls, 14 year old Oliva Ewing, from Dalry, took a 3rd in the 100m Fly and Beth Hill, from Ardrossan, won a bronze in the 200m Back for 13-year-olds.

For Head Coach, Ross Douglas, the weekend wasn’t so much about the race results but how the races were swum.

“For the younger end of the seniors, those who are starting to compete at national level, who were in action this weekend, it was about using it for race practice,” he explains.

“We’ve got the Glasgow International coming at the end of the month which is our big focus at the moment, so for me it was about seeing where we are positioned.

“It was about giving them points to think about. There were a few things they did well and others that we need to work on. I made them aware that for some of them the only competition this weekend was themselves and the more you can learn to set the tone of your own race the better because you won’t always have people pushing you, sometimes you have to do that yourself.

Ross was also delighted to see such strong support from the swimmers’ families.

“The levels of voluntary support from parents, and those who come along as officials, is amazing,” he says.

“We’ve got a good thing going here and it’s reflected in the kids swimming. There are more of them entering and there are more of them wanting to race and it’s all positive and a testament to the environment we’re creating at North Ayrshire.”