A SMALL group of Swim Team Borders members made a big impact at the recent Scottish Schools Swimming Championships at the Dollan Aqua Centre on January 28. Seven members of the Borders performance squad took on the best school-aged swimmers in Scotland winning six gold medals and one silver medal in impressive style.

Lucy Hope claimed gold medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke, both in Scottish Schools record time. At just 15 years of age her efforts secured her the 15/16 years girls best performance trophy.

Ryan Brown also bagged 2 gold medals and deservedly received the best performance trophy for the boys 13/14 years age group. Brown smashed the previous Scottish Schools record in the 13/14 years 200m butterfly and left his opponents in his wake in the 200m individual medley.

Kirsty Armstrong continued the trend winning gold in a dominant, flawless display in the 13/14 years 200m individual medley despite being at the younger end of this age spectrum. Armstrong claimed the East District Age Group record in this event and also took silver in the 100m butterfly behind an opponent one year her senior.

Earlston High School pupil Amy Fraser contributed further to the team's medal tally in the best fashion possible, claiming gold in the 17-19 years 200m butterfly.

Fraser and Brown are members of the Borders Athlete Support Programme (ASP) while Hope receives support from both the Scottish Institute of Sport and the ASP.

Borders Performance Coach, Alex Jordan, said: "Our small team of Borders swimmers made a massive impact at this competition due to some very impressive performances. Each swimmer is permitted to compete in only two events at this meet and there are no finals. The challenge, therefore, is for each swimmer to perform at their very best with the one opportunity they are given in each event, which is exactly what they did!"