Swimming: Dougie claims first British senior title

Mar 16 2011 by Paul Thomson, East Kilbride News

STRATHAVEN swimmer Douglas Scott racked up his third gold medal performance in as many months after claiming his first British senior title.

The 19-year-old was in fine form at the British Championships in Manchester last week and he claimed the 50m breaststroke title in a time of 28.74 seconds. He finished ahead of Stockport's Russell Smith, who finished in 28.81s, and Craig Elliott from Cockermouth who took bronze with a time of 28.95s.

After the heats he was in eighth place and in the semi-final he moved up to fourth fastest qualifier.

But in the final he came into his own and swam 28.74 seconds to take the title by seven hundredths of a second.

And the victory made it a hat-trick of top quality outings for the East Kilbride Amateur Swimming Club member, who claimed the 50m breaststroke title at the Long Course Championships in Sheffield last month as well as two golds and two silver medals at the Short Course Championships in January.

But for the ever-improving youngster, it was the performance in his other discipline, sixth in the 100m breaststroke, that impressed him most.

He told the News: “I’m swimming really well at the moment and I’m pretty pleased with how things have been going over the last few months.

“I’m happy with the gold in the 50m but I’m more pleased with my performance in the 100m.

“The 50m isn’t an Olympic graded event, but the 100m is and it has been my aim to keep improving my swims in that one.

“I claimed a personal best of 12.57 seconds so, for me, that’s the most satisfying thing to come out of this. The 100m is my main event, it’s most important to me and it’s always been my main focus to keep improving at that level.

“I feel like I’m back on form now and I’m looking forward to a week off now to relax and recharge my batteries after what has been a pretty hectic few weeks.”

Douglas was one of only four Scots to claim gold in Manchester and will now face trials for the World University Games in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, his sister Corrie also took part in the British Championships, narrowly missing out on a place in the 200 individual medley semi-final.