Whitburn water wonder has worked hard for Commonwealth dream

Jul 15 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

MEGAN GILCHRIST has been swimming competitively for over half her life.

The Whitburn wonder made an instant splash in the tough ranks of the sport and is now leading the way as Scotland’s No1 swim star.

Her CV already boasts British Youth Titles, a Commonwealth Youth Games appearance and national team honours after representing Great Britain on the continent.

But her biggest accolade to date is fast approaching as she gears up to dive into the unchartered waters on the senior Commonwealth Games.

Gilchrist, a former Whitburn Academy pupil, now living and training in Swansea, is heading for Delhi, India, as part of the Scotland squad for the Games.

And she is confident she can do well on the biggest stage of her life so far.

“I’m due to leave for the Games in Delhi in September, and that will be great,” said Megan.

“I think I have a chance of getting to the final and, if I do, then anything can happen then.

“The next thing for me before that though is the Amateur Swimming Association heats in Sunderland, which I’ll be racing in soon.”

The 19-year-old has come a long way since she first dipped her toe into the competitive aspect of swimming as an eight-year-old.

Just last month, Megan took silver behind double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington in the 800m freestyle at the British Gas Scottish Swimming Championships in Tollcross, Glasgow.

The West Lothian youngster also posted a Commonwealth Games nomination time of 8mins 41.61secs at the same event, a time which she admits left her delighted

She added: “The Scottish Nationals went quite well and I’m very pleased with how my swimming is going this year.

“It has been better than last year when I had a bit of a loss of form.”

Megan’s determination to reach the top of her chosen sport was evident from an early age.

Her committment to training has been the cornerstone of her success, as has been the support provided by her family ever since she first made waves in the pool.

Dad Brian revealed that Megan wouldn’t even let Mother Nature or family holidays get in the way of her swimming practice.

“Megan has never thought about quitting the sport and has always been positive — sometimes too positive,” joked Brian.

“I remember one Sunday evening in January when it had been blowing a blizzard during the day and the snow was still falling at about 7pm.

“Her mother and I thought she was in her room. We went to check on her but she was nowhere to be seen.

“We eventually found her outside, well wrapped up against the elements, snow shovel in hand, making sure we could get out of the drive and get to early-morning training on time.

“We made it as far as Newbridge, only to find all of the other roads closed and no way in to Edinburgh. We about turned and headed back to Whitburn pool, where she trained for two hours, which is a long time for an athlete of any age. She was 13 at the time.

“We didn’t go on family holidays if there wasn’t a pool nearby where she could train at least half of the mornings we were away.

“Megan has also trained on land in the evening – be it rock climbing, running, cycling or in the gym – on the days she didn’t swim.

“She was never forced to go training and we never had to wake her for morning training. She never slept in and most of the time Megan had to wake my wife and I as we had missed the alarm.”

The West Lothian teenager has already achieved one dream by being selected for the Commonwealth Games and if she continues to progress like she is then the next-stop is surely the Olympic Games as well.

And Brian admits from the outset she has made a habit of setting and achieving her goals.

He added: “Megan actually started swimming competitively as an eight-year-old but she didn't win anything. However, she was happy competing and setting faster times.

“We knew nothing about the sport and only learned later that she didn't win anything because she was eight and the kids who were winning were 10.

“By the age of nine though, she was earning medals and by 10 was hard to beat – and that has remained the case all through her swimming career.”

Megan’s rise through the ranks has made her one of Scotland’s brightest medal prospects for the future.

Competing at the Commonweath Games in India is one part of her swimming dream, with the other making a splash in the Olympics.

“I started racing at eight-years-old after starting swimming at Armadale,” recalled Megan.

“I’d only gone there as well because it was where my cousin trained and I was lucky that the coach liked me.

“So from there everything just kind of happened an I won the districts at a pretty young age.

“It’s going really well but the Olympics is my ultimate aim.”