A TEAM of East Lothian’s finest swimmers travelled down to Sheffield last week to compete against the best from around the country at the British Summer Meet.

In total, 15 swimmers from East Lothian Swim Team (ELST) competed at the event, with Sam Downie, Stefan Krawiec, Zara Krawiec, Zach Slater, Calum Peebles, Tegan Black, Ross Anderton and Conner Aspinall qualifying for individual events.

They were joined by Kate Nolan, Anna Lawson, Lucy Hall, Panos Angelakis, Declan Kay, Alex Taylor and Ethan Mulligan for the relay races.

  • Zara Krawiec (15 years) had a very impressive meet, coming away with a silver medal in the 100m backstroke, bronze in the 100m freestyle, and making the final in the 400m freestyle and 200m IM (individual medley);
  • Zach Slater (17 years) was a finalist in 50m butterfly, 100m and 200m freestyle;
  • Sam Downie (18 years) was a finalist in the 100m MC backstroke, and 100m MC freestyle;
  • Stefan Krawiec (18 years) earned a final place in the 100m freestyle.
Zara Krawiec returned from Sheffield with two medals

Zara Krawiec returned from Sheffield with two medals

As well as rounding out the 2023/24 season, the event marked the final time that Slater, Downie, Peebles and Stefan Krawiec would compete as members of ELST before they move on and begin their senior swimming journey.

Jamie Ward, ELST head coach, was delighted to finish the season on a high:

He said: “The British Summer Championships is the premier age group competition in our calendar, with very high standards set for qualifying. It has been a number of years since so many of our athletes qualified.

“To be able to travel down with a team of 15 athletes swimming at the necessary standard to stand alongside the best from around Britain is a real testament to our coaching team and the hard work and talent of our swimmers.

“It was great to come away with a few medals and earn our place at several finals.

“We’ll take great confidence from this as we head into next season.”