Hat-trick of breaststroke golds for Stornoway swimmer Kara

Stornoway super swimmer Kara Hanlon made a significant splash with a hat-trick of breaststroke gold medals as she also landed a personal trio of Scottish National Open Championship titles and a fourth gong for Edinburgh University as part of the relay team.
Kara with one of her medals from the Jersey Island Games event in 2017 continues to bring home the accolades.Kara with one of her medals from the Jersey Island Games event in 2017 continues to bring home the accolades.
Kara with one of her medals from the Jersey Island Games event in 2017 continues to bring home the accolades.

Kara was in magnificent form as she struck gold in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke finals while she was also part of the winning 4x100m medley relay team.

Touching home in all three breaststroke distances on the cusp of her personal best times her performance bode well for Hanlon who is heading to Gibraltar on Saturday as part of the Western Isles Island Games Association squad for the NatWest International Island Games.

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But back to the Scottish Championships in Aberdeen and Kara admits it was a welcome relief to return to her blistering best just a few months after breaking her wrist.

“It went really well and it was a great start to a week which will end in Gibraltar and the Island Games,” Hanlon said.

“I won the 100m in 1:08 which is very close to my personal best and I haven’t been swimming 1:08 since last summer so it is almost a relief to get back to those kind of times and be back at my best.

“The 200m was just over my PB and I would have liked to have gone faster but I can’t complain too much.

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“I broke my wrist last November and it was a bit of a long journey back but I have recovered well. It did take a while to regain full mobility in my wrist and the strength but I feel good now.

“At the time I missed four weeks out of the pool completely which wasn’t ideal but I was back racing by mid February and it is such a confidence boost now to be back to where I was before with these kind of results and times.”

Kara secured her breaststroke hat-trick with gold in the 50m event in a time of 32.01 after winning the 100m breaststroke in 1:08:89 and the 200m breaststroke in 2:30:15 pushing Olympian Hannah Miley into second spot.