Indoor records look likely to tumble at Kelvin Hall

THE Scottish National Indoor Championships take place at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow today, with several records under threat.

Guy Learmonth (Lasswade AAC) will be bidding to improve on the Scottish under-20 800 metre record of 1 min 51.29 sec he set at the Scottish Inter Regional Championships last month as he warms up for his Aviva UK Championships and World Trials debut next weekend.

Six-time national champion Nick Smith (Shaftesbury Barnet) could further reduce his own Scottish Native 60m record (6.63s) after showing signs of a return to his best form indoors with a fourth-place finish in the Aviva International Match in Glasgow last weekend, clocking 6.69s.

Away from the track, Jade Nimmo (Falkirk Victoria Harriers) makes her first competitive indoor long jump outing since 2007, and with a current indoor best of 5.86m she is tipped to threaten the national under-20 best (5.94m) set by Ruth Irving way back in 1992.

That 5.86m mark is, coincidentally, also the Scottish under-17 record – which could be under threat by the fast-improving Andrea Gaffney (Victoria Park City of Glasgow) who recorded a new lifetime best outdoors of 6.23m last August.

In addition to this weekend's title, Gaffney's overall target for this year must be a place on the Aviva GB and Northern Ireland team for the IAAF World Junior Championships in Canada.

The men's long jump winner may not challenge Darren Ritchie's national record of 7.81m, but John Carr (Shaftesbury Barnet) and Jude Beimers (Fife AC) will go head-to-head in one of the quality events of the day with both targeting this year's Commonwealth Games 7.85m nomination standard (outdoors).

The men's pole vault – one of the most exciting competitions in the 2009 Scottish indoor season with three Scots attempting 5m in the same competition for the first time – could also see a new Scottish record.

Ally Strange (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies), who recorded a new national indoor best of 5.15m in January, will be up against the previous national indoor record holder Richard Hurren (Falkirk Victoria Harriers) and this is a battle which could take the pair even higher.

The under-20 record could also be at risk with Jax Thoirs (Victoria Park City of Glasgow), the Scottish under-17 outdoor record holder (4.60m) improving rapidly – most recently with a 4.65m personal in Sweden last month.

Alison Rodger (Kilbarchan AAC) will be hoping to exceed her Scottish Native shot putt record (16.05m) ahead of her Aviva UK Championships title defence challenge

In addition to the national titles on offer, LDC, the private equity arm of the Lloyds Banking Group, have agreed to put up 500 in prize money in addition to presenting a trophy for the overall winning team as part of the 'Club First' programme this weekend.