Tuesday 16th February, 2010

Top Student Swimmers Make A Splash In the Ponds!

Swimming scholarship students collected a glut of medals at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Long Course Championships in Ponds Forge.

The three-day event at the Sheffield venue pitted Britain's best student swimmers against one another and also included specially invited household names, including Olympic double gold medallist Rebecca Adlington.

No fewer than 12 Winning Students - Scotland's national sports scholarship scheme supporting student athletes - from four universities, took to the Sheffield water, amassing 24 medals.

Robert Gordon University student Hannah Miley finished the best female swimmer at the event, with two golds (200m and 400m IM) and a silver medal (800m freestyle).

Also with three medals to their name were Heriot-Watt University student Billy Purnell (Silver 200m IM, Bronze 50m backstroke, Bronze 400m IM) and University of Stirling swimmers Lewis Smith (Silver 200m butterfly, Silver 400m IM, Bronze 200m IM) and fresher Ryan Bennett.

Bennett, 19, studying Sport and Exercise, showed he had plenty of stamina to win the 200m backstroke just minutes after a silver medal swim in the 100m butterfly. He earned another silver in the 100m backstroke, coming second to Commonwealth Games medallist and World Champion Liam Tancock.

He said: "There was only one race between my two finals so I had three minutes to get ready, but I somehow managed to dig deep and was pleased with the result.

"Competing against top swimmers like Liam Tancock, Ross Davenport and Rebecca Adlington opens your eyes up to how the top guys can race all year round, but it also showed we are not far behind them."

Lancashire-born Bennett moved north last year to start his studies and has found the support from Winning Students vital. "For me, the scholarship took the pressure off as it is tough to live off £2000 a year.

"It means I can eat the right quality food to recover properly and it also helps with study as I can afford my books! It is a great thing as it helps not just the swimming, but my education too as you can't swim for life."

Stirling swimmers chipped in with further medals through: Olympic swimmer Andy Hunter (Gold 100m Freestyle, Gold 200m Freestyle); Jak Scott (Silver 100m Freestyle, Bronze 200m freestyle); Douglas Scott (Bronze 200m breaststroke); Jonathan Greig (Gold 800m freestyle, Silver 400m freestyle) and Eloise Barber (Bronze 200m IM).

The Stirling men's team came second in both the 400m Medley and freestyle relay events, each time pipped by Loughborough University, while Martin Cremin recorded an impressive 16:26.59 as he swam to fifth position in the 1500m freestyle.

University of Edinburgh student Louise Pate dominated the butterfly events, taking gold in both the 50m and 100m distances. Darren Ward, a first year Scottish History student at Edinburgh, narrowly missed out on the podium twice, coming fourth in the 50m and 100m backstroke.

This weekend, five Winning Students swimmers will go head-to-head with their German counterparts in a British Swimming competition in Swansea. University of Strathclyde's Robbie Renwick will join Hunter, Smith and Pate at the two-day event at the Wales National Pool.