Scotland West pick up eight wins to win Division Two title

Scotland West won Division Two for the fourth time to secure an immediate return to the top flight of the County Team Championships.

The Scottish region finished with an impressive 554 points to win the title, scoring 87 more points than Swim Wales West did to finish champions 12 months ago.

They picked up eight race victories on the day, including three relays, to finish ahead of Dorset on 529 points and Devon on 490.

Sussex claimed the fourth and final promotion spot in fourth on 455, finishing 10 points clear of fifth-placed Worcestershire.

But the story of the day was that of Scotland West’s dominance, with their swimmers finishing in the top three in 19 of the 31 races, including 14 of the last 16.

Team captains Erin Robertson and Cameron Muir lead by example on the day, claiming maximum points in the girls’ and boys’ 16/17 Yrs 100m Breaststroke respectively.

An absolutely incredible feeling

“It’s absolutely incredible,” said Robertson. “This is my fifth year at the County Team Champs and every other year we’ve been in Division One.

“Last year we were relegated but the fact that we’ve won it this year is just absolutely outstanding. There’s no feeling like it.”

Muir added: “We only lost by one point to go down last year so we had a little bit of pressure obviously to get back into Division One.

“It’s definitely a great experience competing at County Team Champs. It’s so different from any other competition and the place is absolutely buzzing.”

Kelly and Robertson build momentum in 100m Breast

Milngavie & Bearsden swimmer Douglas Kelly was the first to claim maximum points in the fourth event of the day. Kelly won the 12/13 Yrs 100m Breaststroke in a PB 1:09.93 – a time worthy of 20 points in either division.

South Ayrshire’s Katie Robertson repeated her result from the 12/13 Yrs age group two years ago to claim another 20 points in the 14/15 Yrs 100m Breast.

The 15-year old was more than two second clear of the field as she won in 1:10.20 – also a time which was the quickest across both divisions on the day.

It was a similar story in the boys’ 12/13 Yrs 100m Backstroke as Lanark’s Mark Ford sliced more than nine seconds off his PB to take the touch in 1:01.78.

Team captains Robertson and Muir continued momentum in races 22 and 23, with both finishing more than three seconds clear of the field.

Robertson came home in 1:09.51 for her 20 points while Muir clocked 1:02.68 to double up for the Scottish region.

Victories in the girls’ 16/17 Yrs 4x50m Medley Relay and the boys’ 12/13 Yrs Medley Relay sealed their name on the trophy before they rounded off the afternoon with 20 points for the last race of the day – Mixed 6x50m Freestyle Relay.