Angus trio step up to compete in School Games National Finals

Angus athletes are looking ahead to a major date after securing selection for the 2017 School Games National Finals.

Fencer Caitlin Philbin, from Carnoustie, and swimmers Sophie Smith and Maxwell Cattermole will take part in the multi-sport event for the UK’s most talented school-age athletes at Loughborough University, from August 31 to September 3.

Carnoustie High pupil Caitlin, 16, is a member of the school and Wallace Fencing Clubs and already has an impressive record of success, with a current Scottish ranking of tenth in the cadet category and 25th in the juniors.

Sophie, also 16 and a pupil at Arbroath High School, and Lathallan School’s Matthew, who lives in Montrose, are both member of St Thomas Amateur Swimming Club in Arbroath.

Earlier this summer Sophie was in medal-winning form for Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas.

Maxwell, 16, will be hoping he can deliver new personal bests at the event to improve on current freestyle benchmarks of 24.82 seconds for the 50m freestyle and 54.98 for 100m.

Around 1,600 athletes will compete across 12 sports at the School Games, seven of which include disability disciplines.

The four-day event is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust.

Previous competitors include Paralympic champions Hannah Cockroft, Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock, Olympic champion Adam Peaty, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and GB sprinter Adam Gemili.

Some 56 of the 382 athletes representing Team GB at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio have competed in them.

“The School Games National Finals provide a great opportunity for talented young athletes,” said Ali Oliver, chief executive officer of the Youth Sport Trust.

Tickets for the event are available at www.ticketsource.co.uk/2017schoolgames.