News
XIX Commonwealth Games, India15 Oct 2010
On the 20th September, the Scottish Swimming team departed for the pre-games holding camp in Doha, Qatar. We left amid a media storm which was suggesting that the games may not go ahead and that some countries might boycott the event, due to cleanliness issues within the athlete’s village. It was lucky for us that we were leaving, as we got away from the media hype and were able to concentrate on swimming.
Doha was an amazing place. Surrounded by what seemed like sand that would go on forever, we trained in some amazing facilities. We had access to a 10 lane 50 metre pool, plus a 6 lane 25 metre pool for short course training should the swimmers need it. Along the road, the other home countries were training at the Aspire Centre, where there were 20 long course lanes and 20 short course lanes available for the group. If only we had pools like this is Scotland!
Our time in Doha was very relaxing. Training in the morning; training in the afternoon; some gym work here and there; and plenty of rest. We had a lot of team building exercises which proved really useful, especially for the younger swimmers in the team. Relay takeovers were practiced often, and swimmers fine tuned their racing skills in order to be at their peak in Delhi. For our Warrender boys, the camp was fairly successful, Lewis and Craig trained really well and their confidence started to build, whilst Sean unfortunately came down with a tummy bug which kept him out of the pool for a day or two. In hindsight, I guess this didn’t really affect him that much after all!!
On the 28th September, Ally Whike (National Performance Director), Andy Figgins and I flew into Delhi. We arrived two days ahead of the team, in order to check out the competition and training facilities and deal with any issues that may have been present. Upon arrival we found that the training pool in the village was closed due to contaminated river water leaking INTO the training pool, and so the 400 competing swimmers would all have to travel to the competition pool to train. We went to the competition pool – which looked great – but we did wonder how it would all be finished in time, as there were still so many workmen drilling holes and cleaning things up even, two days before the Games started!
I was very impressed with the Opening Ceremony, I thought it was a great display, and summed up the Indian culture very well. The crowd went wild when local pop start A.R Rahman came on to sing Jai Ho (from Slumdog Millionaire). By this stage everyone was desperate for the Games to get started. Of course, the swimmers were unable to take part in the Opening Ceremony; instead they watched it together in the village and got an early night.
Day 1 - Of the Games brought mixed results for the Scottish Team. We had 3 genuine medal chances and only Dave Carry was able to deliver, taking a bronze in the 400m Freestyle after fighting back really hard on the final 100m of the swim. Lewis swam the heats of the 200m Butterfly, finishing in 13th place in a new lifetime best of 2:00.73, and Craig McNally swam a fantastic leg in the heat’s of the 4x100 freestyle, posting a time of 52.43, well inside his previous best time.
Day 2 - Was a golden day for Scotland, with Robbie Renwick recovering from his disappointment in the 400m Freestyle the night before, to win the 200m Freestyle in a very tight finish. I was very proud to be able to stand and sing Flower of Scotland, and it was fantastic to see how the team enjoyed Robbie’s success with him. Sean Fraser finished 6th in the S9 50m Freestyle in a new personal best time of 28.63. It was a great result for Sean who was swimming outside his disability category (S8).
Day 3 - Was Craig McNally’s debut individual swim at an international meet. Craig swam the 200m Backstroke, and he had a fantastic swim, finishing in 11th place in a time of 2:02.10 which was 1.12 seconds faster than his previous best. He looked a little nervous standing behind the blocks, but kept his composure and swam superbly. Lewis Smith took part in the heat's of the 4x200 Freestyle Relay, allowing Robbie Renwick and Dave Carry the chance to relax and rest before the final in the evening. What a great race that was, with the boys taking the silver medal. Lewis was also awarded a silver medal for his contribution to the relay team in the heats.
Day 4 - Craig and Lewis were both back in action on Day 4, with Craig easily progressing through to the semi final of the 100m Backstroke, and then swimming a lifetime best of 56.45 to finish 12th. Lewis had a fantastic heat swim in the 400 Individual Medley, progressing to the final in equal 2nd place in a season best time of 4:18.56. Unfortunately Lewis was unable to capitalise on this in the final, finishing in 8th place well outside the time he posted in the heats. Lewis was understandably very disappointed with his swim, but will go away and look at what went wrong in order to prevent it from happening again next time.
Day 5 - A quiet day for Scotland in the heats, Lewis swam a season best time in the 200 Individual Medley, finishing 12th in 2:03.88. It was an exciting evening for Warrender though, when Sean Fraser swam a brilliant 100m Freestyle to take silver in the S8 100m Freestyle event. It was a fantastic personal best time for Sean, and he was so close to the gold!!
Day 6 – The final day of the competition was another exciting one for Scotland, when we once again got to sing Flower of Scotland when Hannah Miley took gold in the 400 Individual Medley. Lewis and Craig were both back in action, with Lewis swimming the breaststroke leg of the 4x100 Medley Relay in the heats (allowing Gilchrist and Jamieson to rest for their 200m Breaststroke final), and Craig swimming the backstroke leg in both the heat and final. Craig finished off his meet the same way he started it, with another personal best time (56.28) on the lead off leg of the medley relay.
It is fair to say that the Commonwealth Games were a very different and unique Games to what we have been used to in recent years, but it was very special for me and the Warrender boys. It was my first Games with a swimmer on the team, and it was Lewis, Sean and Craig’s first Games also. They all came away with PB’s, and two of them came away with silver medals, so it was very successful for them. They certainly represented their Club and Country with honour, pride and dignity and we are very proud of them all!
Laurel Bailey
Head Coach
Doha was an amazing place. Surrounded by what seemed like sand that would go on forever, we trained in some amazing facilities. We had access to a 10 lane 50 metre pool, plus a 6 lane 25 metre pool for short course training should the swimmers need it. Along the road, the other home countries were training at the Aspire Centre, where there were 20 long course lanes and 20 short course lanes available for the group. If only we had pools like this is Scotland!
Our time in Doha was very relaxing. Training in the morning; training in the afternoon; some gym work here and there; and plenty of rest. We had a lot of team building exercises which proved really useful, especially for the younger swimmers in the team. Relay takeovers were practiced often, and swimmers fine tuned their racing skills in order to be at their peak in Delhi. For our Warrender boys, the camp was fairly successful, Lewis and Craig trained really well and their confidence started to build, whilst Sean unfortunately came down with a tummy bug which kept him out of the pool for a day or two. In hindsight, I guess this didn’t really affect him that much after all!!
On the 28th September, Ally Whike (National Performance Director), Andy Figgins and I flew into Delhi. We arrived two days ahead of the team, in order to check out the competition and training facilities and deal with any issues that may have been present. Upon arrival we found that the training pool in the village was closed due to contaminated river water leaking INTO the training pool, and so the 400 competing swimmers would all have to travel to the competition pool to train. We went to the competition pool – which looked great – but we did wonder how it would all be finished in time, as there were still so many workmen drilling holes and cleaning things up even, two days before the Games started!
I was very impressed with the Opening Ceremony, I thought it was a great display, and summed up the Indian culture very well. The crowd went wild when local pop start A.R Rahman came on to sing Jai Ho (from Slumdog Millionaire). By this stage everyone was desperate for the Games to get started. Of course, the swimmers were unable to take part in the Opening Ceremony; instead they watched it together in the village and got an early night.
Day 1 - Of the Games brought mixed results for the Scottish Team. We had 3 genuine medal chances and only Dave Carry was able to deliver, taking a bronze in the 400m Freestyle after fighting back really hard on the final 100m of the swim. Lewis swam the heats of the 200m Butterfly, finishing in 13th place in a new lifetime best of 2:00.73, and Craig McNally swam a fantastic leg in the heat’s of the 4x100 freestyle, posting a time of 52.43, well inside his previous best time.
Day 2 - Was a golden day for Scotland, with Robbie Renwick recovering from his disappointment in the 400m Freestyle the night before, to win the 200m Freestyle in a very tight finish. I was very proud to be able to stand and sing Flower of Scotland, and it was fantastic to see how the team enjoyed Robbie’s success with him. Sean Fraser finished 6th in the S9 50m Freestyle in a new personal best time of 28.63. It was a great result for Sean who was swimming outside his disability category (S8).
Day 3 - Was Craig McNally’s debut individual swim at an international meet. Craig swam the 200m Backstroke, and he had a fantastic swim, finishing in 11th place in a time of 2:02.10 which was 1.12 seconds faster than his previous best. He looked a little nervous standing behind the blocks, but kept his composure and swam superbly. Lewis Smith took part in the heat's of the 4x200 Freestyle Relay, allowing Robbie Renwick and Dave Carry the chance to relax and rest before the final in the evening. What a great race that was, with the boys taking the silver medal. Lewis was also awarded a silver medal for his contribution to the relay team in the heats.
Day 4 - Craig and Lewis were both back in action on Day 4, with Craig easily progressing through to the semi final of the 100m Backstroke, and then swimming a lifetime best of 56.45 to finish 12th. Lewis had a fantastic heat swim in the 400 Individual Medley, progressing to the final in equal 2nd place in a season best time of 4:18.56. Unfortunately Lewis was unable to capitalise on this in the final, finishing in 8th place well outside the time he posted in the heats. Lewis was understandably very disappointed with his swim, but will go away and look at what went wrong in order to prevent it from happening again next time.
Day 5 - A quiet day for Scotland in the heats, Lewis swam a season best time in the 200 Individual Medley, finishing 12th in 2:03.88. It was an exciting evening for Warrender though, when Sean Fraser swam a brilliant 100m Freestyle to take silver in the S8 100m Freestyle event. It was a fantastic personal best time for Sean, and he was so close to the gold!!
Day 6 – The final day of the competition was another exciting one for Scotland, when we once again got to sing Flower of Scotland when Hannah Miley took gold in the 400 Individual Medley. Lewis and Craig were both back in action, with Lewis swimming the breaststroke leg of the 4x100 Medley Relay in the heats (allowing Gilchrist and Jamieson to rest for their 200m Breaststroke final), and Craig swimming the backstroke leg in both the heat and final. Craig finished off his meet the same way he started it, with another personal best time (56.28) on the lead off leg of the medley relay.
It is fair to say that the Commonwealth Games were a very different and unique Games to what we have been used to in recent years, but it was very special for me and the Warrender boys. It was my first Games with a swimmer on the team, and it was Lewis, Sean and Craig’s first Games also. They all came away with PB’s, and two of them came away with silver medals, so it was very successful for them. They certainly represented their Club and Country with honour, pride and dignity and we are very proud of them all!
Laurel Bailey
Head Coach
