Talented swimmer Nan Rae was about to make her ‘Big Swim Debut’ according to the Evening Times on April 5, 1958.
She was one of three Scots chosen to swim for Britain against Germany later that month, in the 440-yard freestyle (400m in today’s money.)
She was just 14 years of age, and she was following in the footsteps of successful Scottish women Cathie Gibson, who won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 1948 and Margaret Girvan, who won the British Championship and several international honours. (Incidentally, Nan enjoyed great success after this debut - by the age of 16 she had featured in an Olympic final in Rome, and at 18 she had decided she wanted a life outside swimming, and retired.)
Elsewhere in the sporting news this week, Rangers striker Ralph Brand (pictured here scoring against Dundee in a Scottish Cup quarter-final replay) was the subject of a new ‘signing’ – on the marriage register, when he married Evelyn Duncan. That was in the morning – that evening he was at outside right for Rangers against Third Lanark, scored three goals and helped his club lift the Glasgow Cup.
Over at Parkhead, our reporter spotted Celtic goalie Johnny Bonnar sporting a magnificent black eye.
READ MORE: Celtic fans on the way to Amsterdam get in the party mood
“Black’s maybe not the word for it is now a thing of technicolour in blue, green and yellow,” he explained. “The originator of the keeker was Billy McPhail in a practice game – Johnny came out to grab a through ball, Billy came in to give him a hand – and a hand was literally what he got…”
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