Olympic Duo Make a Big Splash at Kirkcudbright

Two of Britain’s most successful swimmers of the last 20 years provided a master class for over 30 young hopefuls at Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool on Thursday the 30^th May.

The couple; England’s Liam Tancock and Scotland’s Caitlin McClatchey, both former Team GB Olympians, were staying in Dumfries and Galloway last week before getting married near Gatehouse of Fleet at the weekend.

Liam, a multiple world champion and former world record holder along with Fiancé Caitlin, a double Commonwealth Champion and Commonwealth record holder, took time out of their busy pre-wedding schedule to provide an inspiring talk and question and answer session from the young Otters.

Both told how they had gone from club level to the peak of their careers, of the challenges they had faced along the way and of their experiences of competing on the world stage. The two, who had come wearing their Olympic and Commonwealth kit also then showed off a selection of their World and Commonwealth Gold Medals.

After hearing the talk, the young Otters took up the challenge of swimming various distances in 24.04 seconds, the time of Liam’s 50m backstroke record set at the World Championships in Rome in 2009.

At the end of the session Coach Euan Hutchison gave a vote of thanks to the pair before they were presented with a Silver Quaich by club captains John Rodger, Maya Robinson and Amy Philip. The couple were very happy to sign autographs for their young fans.

Club President, Simon Raine said “What a fantastic opportunity this was for a small club like ours in this rural area. We are absolutely delighted that these two amazing athlete’s gave up their time to come and talk with the kids. We have all been really inspired by tonight’s event and hope it will encourage our swimmers in their swimming careers.”

Kirkcudbright Otters train twice a week on Mondays and Fridays 6-8pm at Kirkcudbright Pool. Anyone interested in joining the club should contact [email protected].