Swimming: City pool stars desperate for Games to go ahead

WHILE the Commonwealth Games has descended into crisis, two city swimmers have had to concentrate on their preparations regardless.

Amid talk of an alternative event should Delhi fail to come up to scratch on time, medal contender Lewis Smith and new kid on the block Craig McNally were training at Scotland's pre-Games camp in Doha, Qatar.

Although the Scotland team delayed the departures of its athletes after the collapse of a bridge at the main stadium and reports that the accommodation was uninhabitable just ten days before the opening ceremony was due to take place, the Warrender club duo are ready to go.

And club coach Laurel Bailey said: "We are all really proud that Lewis and Craig have made the team Lewis will be right up there contesting with the very best and Craig has done so well. He's only 17 and will be the youngest male swimmer in the Scottish team."

Smith, who is 22, and whose main event is the 400 metre medley, has a clear ambition. "My aim is to win a medal. Along with the London Olympics in 2012, this is what I have been working towards for the past few years.

"I've had a tough year. Because I was pretty certain I would make the team, I've really been in hard training since last August. Delhi will be the first time since then that I have rested for competition.

"It is going to be tough, and there is certainly no shortage of competition in my main event (he also competes in the 200m medley and 200m butterfly) but I am feeling confident.

"I have competed in European championships, but last year's world championships in Rome was a big learning curve. That was my biggest meet to date and was just the push I needed. It helped me to target the steps I had to take to raise my swimming level."

For teenager McNally, gaining selection was a huge boost. "I was really surprised," he admits. "I just missed the qualifying times, but made it for the medley relay in the backstroke.

"But now that I am in the team, I will get the chance to swim the individual backstroke events. It's going to be a great experience and I hope to do my best and at least make semi- finals."

For both, Delhi will, hopefully, be a springboard towards the GB team for the London Olympics, now less than two years away. Smith is combining his swimming with a sports degree at Stirling University but has taken some time off to concentrate on swimming.

"I'll begin again in January," he explained. "It's great that the university is so flexible and can ease the pressure on my studies during competition time. I also get great support from the Scottish Institute of Sport and everyone connected with the GB Intensive Training Programme at Stirling. "I train in Stirling under Doug Frost most of the time, but I also still have very strong connections with Warrender. I wouldn't be where I am today without such a super club behind me. It's brilliant for Warrender that Craig has also made the team."

McNally completed his sixth year at Balerno High School in the summer and is taking a gap year to commit fully to swimming. "After that I'll see what happens," said the youngster who only took up the sport six years ago. The Commonwealth Games is going to be my first international cap and now I definitely want to target London.

"I would never have dreamed that I would make the Scottish team for Delhi, so I now know that anything is achievable."