Rognvald Omand
Rognvald started his swimming career in Orkney and competed at local level and Junior Inter-County and District during this time. At the time of induction into the Hall of Fame, Rognvald still held all the Orkney Open short course backstroke records at all distances (50m, 100m, 200m). All of these were set in the early 1990s so have stood for nearly 30 years. Rognvald also represented Orkney at Junior Inter-County from 1983 to 1988. During this time, he broke the JIC 50m backstroke record. He is a former North District record holder and gold medalist for 100m backstroke.
Rognvald represented Orkney at Scottish Schools, winning gold in the 100 backstroke in 1988 and silver in 1989. He was a member of the Scottish Senior Swimming squad from 1988 to 1991, and Scottish Universities backstroke champion for backstroke in 1990. He has had 2 caps for Scotland, as part of the Scottish Team who went to the annual Southampton Open Meet in 1989 and 1990 and was formerly ranked #1 in Scotland for 50m backstroke.
Rognvald achieved success at several Island Games and held Island Games records:
Faroe Islands Games 1989
- Gold Medalist 50m Backstroke
- Silver Medalist 100m Backstroke
- Bronze Medalist – 4 x 50 medley Relay
Aland Island Games 1991
- Silver Medalist for 100m Backstroke
- Silver Medalist for 200m Backstroke
- Gold Medalist 4 x 50 relay freestyle relay
- Silver Medalist 4 x 50 medley relay
- Silver Medalist 4 x 100m freestyle relay
Rognvald was also awarded the University of Stirling’s Airthrey Trophy for most outstanding sports performance in 1989-1990. In 1990 Rognvald was the first swimmer to be awarded a Sports Bursary at the University of Stirling in recognition of his achievements. Further recognition of his commitment and success came when he was given the captaincy of the Uni Team in 1992-94
At the Commonwealth Games Trials for the 1990 New Zealand Games, Rognvald finished second in the 100m Backstroke and third for the 200m backstroke. His second-place time in the 100m Backstroke qualified for the Games; however, due to lack of finances several qualifying swimmers were not included in the team.
