East Sutherland schools had a splash-tastic time at gala!

The first event in the East Sutherland Schools Sports Association (ESSSA) calendar is always the P4-P7 swimming gala which took place earlier in the month, hosted at Sutherland Swimming Pool.

Seven primary schools from the area took part with heats and finals in backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, medley relay and freestyle relay. All 56 pupils did their schools proud with some very close races.

Elissa Stevenson, High Life Highland’s Schools Co-ordinator for the area said: “It’s a great event to kick off our yearly events programme and there’s always lots of excitement and cheering. Every swimmer did their best for their school and team which was great to see.

“For these type of events to run smoothly, we rely heavily on experienced volunteers and we are so grateful to have so many local people who are willing to give up their time to come along. We are indebted to Rona Gordon, Clare Crisp, Gayle MacRae, Aileen MacKay and Claire Gordon.  We also had the great support of 2 two sports leaders from Golspie High School who helped with race timings.

“We were also delighted to have Cllr Richard Gale join us along to present the trophies and the sports leaders gave out the medals!”

Trophies were awarded to the schools coming first in the Rural Schools, Small Schools and Big Schools categories, as well as each pupil receiving a medal for first place. The results are as follows:

Backstroke – Girls

1^st – Rosie Minty (Dornoch Primary School)

2^nd – Fearne MacKay (Dornoch Primary School)

3^rd – Freya Port (Golspie Primary School)

Backstroke – Boys

1^st equal – Noah Stewart (Golspie Primary School) & Oliver McKelvie Walker (Brora Primary School)

3^rd – Jayden Taylor (Helmsdale Primary School)

Breaststroke – Girls

1^st – Anna McGillivary (Dornoch Primary School)

2^nd – Seraphina Wells (Bonar Bridge Primary School)

3^rd – Bella Sutherland (Golspie Primary School)

Breaststroke – Boys

1^st – Miller Macleod (Golspie Primary School)

2^nd – Archie MacMillan (Golspie Primary School)

3^rd – Lincon Harman (Rogart Primary School)

Butterfly – Girls

1^st – Anna McGillivary (Dornoch Primary School)

2^nd – Ruby Stevenson (Bonar Bridge Primary School)

3^rd – Elise Taylor (Golspie Primary School)

Butterfly – Boys

1^st – Murdo Shaw (Golspie Primary School)

2^nd – Oliver McKelvie Walker (Brora Primary School)

3^rd – Jayden Taylor (Helmsdale Primary School)

Freestyle – Girls

1^st – Rosie Minty (Dornoch Primary School)

2^nd – Gracey Ross (Dornoch Primary School)

3^rd – Imogen Port (Golspie Primary School)

Freestyle – Boys

1^st – Murdo Shaw (Golspie Primary School)

2^nd – Jayden Taylor (Helmsdale Primary School)

3^rd – Ronan MacNeil (Golspie Primary School)

Medlay Relay

1^st – Golspie Primary School (A)

2^nd – Golspie Primary School (B)

3^rd – Helmsdale Primary School

Freestyle Relay

1^st – Golspie Primary School (A)

2^nd – Golspie Primary School (B)

3^rd – Bonar Bridge Primary School

Overall Winners:

• Rural Schools – Rogart Primary School
• Small Schools – Helmsdale Primary School
• Big Schools – Golspie Primary School