Lanark swimming pair Abbigail and Heather excel at Scottish Open Water Championships

Two Lanark Amateur Swimming Club members brought home a gold and a silver medal at the recent Scottish Open Water Championships held at the scenic Loch Venachar near Callander.
Abbigail (right) with her cup and medal from Loch Venachar and Heather with her medal from the same competition (Pic by Stuart Stevenson)Abbigail (right) with her cup and medal from Loch Venachar and Heather with her medal from the same competition (Pic by Stuart Stevenson)
Abbigail (right) with her cup and medal from Loch Venachar and Heather with her medal from the same competition (Pic by Stuart Stevenson)

Abbigail McArthur and Heather Stevenson have only been training and competing in the Open Water discipline of swimming since July and had only two competitions under their belt before the Nationals at Loch Venachar.

The girls had never before competed over more than 1km.

But the morning session saw Abbigail swim in a calm Loch Venachar and win the 13/14 years girls 5km Scottish title in a time of 1 hour 29 mins 36 secs.

This involved swimming five laps in the loch.

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In the afternoon, Heather – competing in choppier waters – was second in the 13/14 years girls 2km event in a time of 31 mins 30 secs.

Lanark ASC coach Karen Kelly said after the meeting: “The club can be proud of Heather and Abbigail winning gold and silver medals in their rookie year in Open Water Swimming.

“Both girls and the club are grateful to Lanark coach Stephen Pratt who has had the girls out at Glenbuck Loch in East Ayrshire training and gaining experience swimming in an open water environment.”

Abbigail (right) with her cup and medal from Loch Venachar and Heather with her medal from the same competition.

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