Record-breaking swimming duo strike gold!

Record-breaking swimming duo – Eve Wood and Alfie Price – have struck gold at the recent Scottish National Age Group Championships (SNAGS) in Aberdeen. 

Both came away with gold medals for their respective 50m freestyle competitions. Eve also went on to clinch the top spot when she won the championship for 16-year-olds in the 50m butterfly and collected a further two bronze medals for 100m and 50m backstroke. 

Alfie also picked up gold in the 50m butterfly event, securing a significant PB. He snatched bronze in the 100m butterfly and made a number of new Orkney records. 

Eve and Alfie are Performance Development Programme (PDP) athletes – a scheme run through Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and sportscotland. Through the programme support is given to athletes on the performance pathway which includes physical preparation, performance lifestyle support, nutrition support and physio guidance. Eve and fellow swimmer Tamsin Blowfield also receive support through the OIC, sportscotland and Stagecoach supported Athlete Travel Award Scheme to help with travel costs. 

We recently shared an article on Eve and Alfie’s record-breaking success when both smashed two 43-year-old swimming records at the Orkney Age Group Championships held at the Picky Centre during March. 

Alfie, 14, broke Jimmy Poke’s 100m butterfly record (1:05.40) with a time of 1:02.58 taking almost two seconds off his own personal best time, whilst Eve, 15, pipped Karen Hourston’s record in the 100m breaststroke (1.17:70) with a time of 1.17:45 – with Eve’s PB time being 120:25 prior to this meet. 

The duo continue to go from strength to strength – and that is down to their hard work and commitment to the sport, according to Orkney Amateur Swimming Club coach Inga Burton. 

She said: “Orkney was extremely well represented at the Scottish National Age Group Championships (SNAGS) held at the Aberdeen Aquatics Centre. Of the eight swimmers that had qualifying times seven attended the meet over the five days competing in a total of 25 heats and making it through to 13 finals. 

“On the back of Covid, A-squad swimmers set a target of getting a team from Orkney at SNAGS as opposed to one or two swimmers. Of the seven swimmers it was the first time competing at the Nationals for Tamsin Blowfield, Nathan Smith and Craig Burton. 

“It was a fantastic medal tally, but also in terms of PBs, making new Orkney records and just gaining experience of this type of meet. We have a very exciting 12 months now to prepare for the Island Games 2025.” 

Eve said: “This week has been challenging but the training has definitely paid off.” 

Alfie added: “It’s been a lot of fun meeting everybody again. My PBs have been decent, and it was great getting gold in the two 50m races. I was a bit disappointed with my performance in the 100m though.” 

There were several other swimmers from Orkney competing achieving PBs, setting new local records and gaining valuable experience – Magnus Kirkpatrick, Craig Burton, Jack Wallace, Nathan Smith and youngest local competitor Tamsin Blowfield. 

Chair of the Council’s Education, Leisure and Housing Committee, Councillor Gwenda Shearer said: “The Performance Development Programme is a fantastic initiative and clearly the support being provided through that is paying dividends. Congratulations to all concerned.”