TWENTY young Helensburgh and Lomond swimmers took part in the Argyll and Bute regional qualifiers for the 2019 Scottish Schools Championship – and seven were successful in posting times required for consideration for the national event.

Charlie Bridges, Caitriona Stewart, Roisin Kavanagh, Alice Cumming, Hamish McFarlane, Ryan Thomson and Daniel Hendry were the top local performers in the event in Campbeltown.

Hermitage Academy, Rhu, Cardross, Hermitage Primary and Lomond School were all represented on the day, the majority of them members of Helensburgh Amateur Swimming Club.

In addition to the swimmers named above, Michael Payne, Finlay Martin, Finn Bridges, William Peace and Thomas Forsyth also recorded top-three finishes in one or more of the races at the Aqualibrium Leisure Centre in Campbeltown.

Sponsored by Brodies LLP, the Scottish Schools event is a prestigious competition bringing together all the best school aged swimmers from the whole of Scotland and is scheduled to take place later this month at Tollcross in Glasgow.

There are a limited number of spaces up for grabs for most events so to meet the consideration times or qualify for the Finals is a huge achievement in itself.

The Argyll and Bute Qualifier event was coordinated by Stuart McQuaker (Campbeltown Grammer School PE Dept) and supported on a local level by Live Argyll Active Schools, Helensburgh Amateur Swimming Club volunteers and the schools that had swimmers involved.