2025 SCOTTISH NATIONAL SC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Friday, December 12th – Sunday, December 14th
- Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh, Scotland
- SCM (25m)
- Meet Central
- Livestream
- Live Results
The first day of action unfolded at the 2025 Scottish National Short Course Open Championships and already we saw two national records bite the dust.
Racing in the final of the men’s 200m backstroke, 20-year-old Matthew Ward busted out the best time of his career en route to gold.
Bath Performance Centre’s Ward stopped the clock at a mighty effort of 1:50.37, beating his competitors by over 4 seconds in the process.
Stirling’s David Annis picked up silver in 1:54.81 and Fergus Thomson wrangled up bronze in 1:56.07.
Ward split 26.06/27.80 (53.86)/28.10/28.34 to demolish his previous career-swiftest performance. That former mark stood at the 1:53.11 he put on the books at the 2024 edition of these championships.
That means in the course of just a year, Ward found a way to hack over two seconds from his PB to establish the new Scottish national record.
In doing so, Ward rockets up the list of all-time British performers from spot #13 to now rank as GBR’s 3rd-best SCM 200 back swimmer in history.
Top 5 British Men’s SCM 200 Backstroke Performers All-Time
- Cameron Brooker – 1:48.36, 2025
- Luke Greenbank – 1:48.53, 2023
- Matthew Ward – 1:50.37, 2025
- Craig McNally – 1:50.57, 2019
- Christopher Walker-Hebborn – 1:50.73, 2009
Ward’s effort represents the second backstroke record to be broken by someone in the United Kingdom this month. Just this week, Cameron Brooker established the overall British SCM 200 back record with the 1:48.36 he notched at the Swim England Winter Championships.
A Scottish record also went down on the women’s side on day one of these Scottish Championships, courtesy of 21-year-old Lucy Grieve.
Representing the University of Stirling, Greive put up a speedy result of 25.78 to dominate the women’s 50m butterfly event. She scored the sole time of the field under the 26-second barrier.
A pair of Edinburgh teammates captured the minor medals, with Ciara Schlosshan posting 26.21 and Morgan Brophy registering 26.47.
As for Grieve, her personal best entering this competition rested at the 26.08 logged at the 2023 edition of these championships.
Flash forward to last night, however, and Grieve cleared the 26-second barrier for her first time ever, overtaking the former Scottish standard of 25.93 Keanna MacInnes turned in at the 2023 BUCS SC Championshps.
Grieve’s performance here ranks her as Great Britain’s 3rd-best performer in history.
Top 5 British Women’s SCM 50 Butterfly Performers All-Time
- Francesca Halsall- 25.29, 2014
- Siobhan-Marie O’Connor – 25.49, 2015
- Lucy Grieve – 25.78, 2025
- Eva Okaro – 25.83, 2024
- Amy Roebuck – 25.94, 2013
Stay tuned for additional Scottish Short Course Open Championships coverage as the meet continues.
Alongside Brooker, Skerry and Gammon, Bath are starting to show their strength again. Jacob Peters also closing in on his best performances.