AN EAST Lothian teenager has won bronze at an international swimming competition in Canada.
Stefan Krawiec was one of five members of Scottish Swimming’s National Junior Team selected for the Ontario Junior International (OJI).
The East Lothian Swim Team (ELST) member took part in the competition, which is an 18-and-under junior meet which provides one of the last short course racing opportunities of the year.
The meet has provided valuable experience to the likes of Summer McIntosh, Katie Shanahan and Archie Goodburn in the past.
Competing over three days, Krawiec, who had been battling the flu before making the journey to Canada, finished 10th in the B final of the 200m freestyle and ninth in the 100m butterfly A final.
The following day, he took seventh in the 50m butterfly A final and was part of the relay team who finished fourth in the 4x100m freestyle final.
Finally, on the third day, he finished in 10th spot in the A final of the 200m individual medley and was part of the relay team that took bronze in the 4x100m individual medley.
Speaking ahead of the event, which also saw members of British Swimming heading to Canada, 16-year-old Krawiec said: “I’m so excited, I think it will be a really good experience.
“When I went to the European Youth Olympic Festival in Slovakia I raced really well, considering I was out of the country and racing new people.
“I feel that going to Canada will bring the same opportunity and I’m hoping to go some decent times just by racing swimmers from other countries.
“For me, this is mostly about the experience, being out with the British squad, doing some team travelling. The ultimate goal is to hopefully set the group up to compete at the European Juniors in the summer, but also just to have fun and enjoy the experience with the wider group.”
READ MORE: Krawiec takes home two medals at European Youth Olympic Festival
Joining Krawiec, who lives in Prestonpans, at the international competition was former East Lothian Swim Team coach Bruce Halloran.
Now Warrender Performance coach, he described the focus of the event as exposing the athletes to “some high-level junior swimming”.
Speaking before the trip, he said: “It’s a group of European Juniors prospective athletes, and it is to ensure that we give them the exposure before trials that they need so that they can hone their racing skills, hone their arena skills, and put them in a place where we can go into trials fully prepared for what they need to do.
“It will be good to see how the athletes handle the pressure of a large meet.
“It’s quite easy, especially in Scotland, to race against people that they know, so to go to the other side of the world and be exposed to some of Canada, America and other countries’ best athletes is going to show them that next level and show them how they stack up against that.
“It will challenge them to refocus on the skills required to step forward into the international stage.”
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