Edinburgh swimmers power past Strathclyde

Edinburgh University’s first-team swimmers last week secured a staggering 171-77 triumph over Strathclyde at St Leonard’s pool. The team extended their run of good form in some style, bettering the victory over Aberdeen of a fortnight previous.

Edinburgh had on their game faces from the get-go. The women’s team kicked off the with the 4x50m medley relay, beating Strathclyde by a whole length of the pool. This strong start was followed-up with a series of strong swims from the Edinburgh girls in the 100-metre events; Sarah Eaglesham placed first in the freestyle with an impressive time of 59.50 seconds, whilst in the breaststroke Emma Bird and Andrea Strachan tore ahead of the Strathclyde girls to claim first and second place respectively.

Strachan then won the 100m individual medley in a rapid time of 1 minute, 12.15 seconds, with Iona Campbell a comfortable second.

Emma Bird and Ishbel Rodger had the unenviable task of swimming the longest event - 200m free - but the Edinburgh ladies rose to the challenge and produced seemingly effortless swims, taking first and second respectively.

In the 50 metre events Edinburgh denied Strathclyde any first or second places. The 50m fly was close, however, with Jenn Davis clinching second ahead of the Strathclyde swimmer by just 0.06 seconds, having chased her down in the last 15 metres; Eilidh Kirkwood took first by 0.38 seconds.

The 50m backstroke was dominated by the Edinburgh girls, with Rachel Smithers and Amy Parsons battling it out for first and second – Parsons edging it by 0.31 seconds. The 4x50m freestyle relay saw another comfortable win for Edinburgh; with the Strathclyde team tiring, consistently strong swims saw the gap increase with each leg.

The men’s team were also a force to be reckoned with, contending more with each other than with Strathclyde. The 200 free saw Edinburgh ahead of Strathclyde’s leading swimmer by a substantial 34 seconds, leaving Captain Craig Meek and Cameron Smith to battle between themselves for first and second place; Smith clinched it with 2:03.15, compared to Meek’s close effort of 2:04.04.

Like the women, the men didn’t give Strathclyde a look-in at the 50m events. Stuart Conley put a solid effort into the ‘fly, finishing with a time of 27.63 to take first place with ease. The breaststroke was close, with Jack Holroyd pulling away from his opponent in the last few strokes to claim second, as James Thomson took an impressive first in 31.91.

The guys showed no mercy in the 100m events either. European Short Course contender, Nicholas Quinn, claimed first place in the 100m ‘fly, but was closely followed by Stuart Conley. Orion Young dominated the 100m free with a time of 56.20, comfortably taking first place.

The scoreline was just reward for Edinburgh’s competitive spirit, keeping the pace up and producing some excellent swims and exciting battles even as Strathclyde began to flag.