Swimming: Callum collects bronze at International Children’s Games

Jul 1 2009 by Colin Paterson, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

AN Airdrie swimmer delivered a lifetime best performance to earn a bronze medal at the International Children’s Games.

Callum Baxter pulled out all the stops in the 400m freestyle final to finish in the top three for Team Lanarkshire in Athens, Greece.

The 15-year-old’s time of four minutes 14.70 seconds was enough to earn him third place and a spot on the podium behind runner-up Dimitrios Satirakis of Thessaloniki, Greece (4:14.07).

Christian Scheruebl, representing Graz of Austria, won the event in an impressive time of 4:01.46.

However, Callum was just delighted to be among the prizes.

He told the Advertiser: “This was my first international competition and I was really happy to get a medal.

“I was quite nervous before I went out there but once we arrived and started competing it was a case of focusing on what you were doing.

“The standard of the competition was high and the guy that came first was really fast.

“I just wanted to do my best and see if I could win a medal and I am pleased that I managed to do that.

“My friends and family are all really proud of me.”

Callum, who lives in Rawyards and attends Bellahouston Academy’s School of Sport, admits an appearance at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is his top target.

But he added: “There are a lot of good swimmers in Scotland and it will be quite hard to get into the team.”

In the girls’ swimming section, Glenboig’s Rochelle Callan finished in fifth place in the 50m breaststroke, just over two seconds behind gold medallist Yoo Jin Lee of Seoul, South Korea.

Meanwhile, Team Lanarkshire’s football squad suffered the heartbreak of losing the final on penalties as they brought home the silver medal.

Airdrie’s Ross Burnett and Anton Brady of Coatbridge were part of a talented team that won all of their group games and then defeated Bangkok 5-3 in the semi-finals.

But after drawing 1-1 with Pesnika of Slovenia in normal time, Lanarkshire couldn’t win through during the spot-kick lottery and missed out on gold.

The 19-strong Team Lanarkshire squad, Scotland’s only representatives in Athens, clinched seven medals in total and Councillor Jim Smith praised their success.

He said: “Every member of Team Lanarkshire gave excellent performances in Athens and were excellent ambassadors for their sport and Lanarkshire.

“They all enjoyed competing at the highest level and will be able to use that experience to develop further in their sport.

“I would like to congratulate our medal winners on their outstanding success in proving themselves to be among the best in the world in their sport.”