Agencies
Glasgow, July 28
When 13-year-old Erraid Davies got the chance to be interviewed by her idols Rebecca Adlington and Helen Skelton, the teenager made sure she would have some autographs to take home with her.
But hours later the sports stars were gushing over the little girl from Shetland who became the youngest ever medal winner for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games and an overnight star.
Davies, of Shetland, achieved the bronze after she swam 100m in one minute and 21.38 seconds – scoring a personal best for the second time in one day. She described her achievement and medal as “amazing.”
As she appeared shocked after realising she had won bronze in the para 100m breaststroke final, Davies was described as having “the biggest smile” and “so sweet” by commentators.
Davies is Scotland’s youngest ever competitor in the history of the games and the youngest medal winner.
She is two months younger than Jenny Tyrell, of Australia, who won a swimming gold at the Christchurch Games in New Zealand in 1974.
The teenager said she could hear the crowd cheering her on at Tolcross swimming centre during her second 50m on Sunday evening and decided to “hammer it”, narrowly missing out on a silver to Madeleine Scott.
“I am really happy to have another PB,” she told Sharron Davies. “I got a medal and I am so happy. I am feeling really, really happy.”
The 13-year-old, who was competing at her first Commonwealth Games, is in the para category because of a problem with one of her hip bones which restricts her movement.
Her father David Davies, 69, described his daughter as “amazing” and said they had not seen her for four weeks because of her training.
He said, “She got into swimming because she developed a hip condition called Perthes’ disease when she was three, and was told she was not to do any weight bearing exercises and that the best thing for her was to swim. We had just moved to Shetland and she couldn’t swim, but she was soon taught and she has virtually never been out of the pool since.”
He added, “She swam her first mile before she was six. She’s been swimming ever since and she’s just got better and better.”
She said swimming had helped her hip problems because it built up her muscle.
The teenager also confessed that she had kept her training and her appearance at the Commonwealth Games a secret from her school friends as she “didn’t really know how to tell them.”
Davies trains in a 16.6m three-lane pool – a third of the length of the Olympic sized pool where she won bronze – and swims nine times a week. The pool is around a 45 minute drive from her home.
Erraid Davies is hailed an overnight star as she achieves a bronze medal in the 100m swim at 13
Her mother Joyce told the BBC, “We do have a lot of swimming pools [on Shetland] but they are very small – it shows it doesn’t make any difference. Swimming makes Erraid very happy. It’s too much hard work if you’re not loving it so I think her smile says everything.”
At home Davies traines with Lorraine Gifford, head coach at Delting Dolphins Club based in Brae, and has been working with the teenager since she was eight.
The youngster is now being tipped for success at future Commonwealth Games and a trip to the Paralympics in Brazil in 2016.
