Perth City Swim Club's new Pentaqua event makes splashing introduction

Months of hard work paid off when Perth City Swim Club hosted its first ever competitive event.

The Pentaqua Invitational recently took place at Perth Leisure Pool and, coupled with the home club, Kinross Otters, Dundee City, Stirling and Grangemouth all jumped into the water for a splashing time.

All of the four visiting teams had been quick to sign up and can now look forward to a further two series in May.

Perth organisers Andrew Bailey, Bruce Bannerman and Mark Cowling had been keen to offer an event that brought young swimmers together in a competitive and fun environment. And they succeeded.

“There has always been an aspiration for us to run our own swim meet,” Andrew told the PA.

“With Covid and losing the pool for 18 months, the focus had been on senior swimmers getting back to competition.

“We were really keen to offer something for the younger swimmers - nine years old and up.

“When we spoke to other clubs, it was clear there was nothing really around for that age bracket.

“We decided to go for it, spent six months planning and then every club signed up within 24 hours.

“There was massive interest and, in reality, we could have filled the spaces about four times over.”

When it comes to calling on the help of volunteers, Perth City can always count on dedicated members.

More than 50 volunteers joined forces - young and old - to ensure the inaugural Pentaqua operated smoothly.

Andrew explained: “There were over 500 races in three hours that needed to be coordinated.

“A number of our senior swimmers had volunteered to help throughout the day too. That was great to see.

“And we also had a huge chunk of support from Live Active at Perth Leisure Pool. They were absolutely superb.”

The scores on the doors at the end