7 March 2024
There’s been plenty of competition and high achievement in recent weeks on land and in water, with students competing at the London Aquatics Centre, Lara, Year 10, qualifying for Olympic trials, Tarryn, Year 8, going from strength to strength in the sport of water polo, Daisy, Year 8, taking top honours in Surrey’s cross country league, and a clean sweep of matches for our U13 cricketers on their visit to Lord’s.
Swimming – Mrs Tina Cornelius
On Friday 1 March we took five students (main photo) from our swim team to the London Aquatics Centre, built for the 2012 Olympics, to compete against 100 other schools in the prestigious Bath Cup event. In the first event, the freestyle relay, Sophie V-E (Lower Sixth), Lily O (Year 11), Lara S (Year 10) and Zoe T (Year 8) all swam amazingly to win their heat. The second race was the medley relay, comprising Lara on backstroke, Zoe on breaststroke, Sophie on butterfly and Alice H (Year 10) on the front crawl leg. This was a close heat and the students fought hard to finish in second place.
Huge congratulations to Lara (second from left, main photo), whose backstroke has brought her qualification for the Irish Olympic trials/Open Champs meet in May. This is a fantastic achievement, particularly for such a young swimmer.
Water polo – Tarryn, Year 8
Having watched my older brother play water polo at school and with Croydon Amphibians for a good few years, last March I decided to try it too. I instantly loved it. I already swim to county standard and enjoy netball, so it was similar to putting the two sports together - however… it is a contact sport, so add in a bit of rugby!
After four months with my club, my coach suggested I tried out for the Water Polo National Talent Centre, which is a National Pathway programme. I was selected, which is a great honour, and train twice a month with the Talent Centre, alongside my club training. In addition to playing U14, U16 and U18 for my club, I have been picked to play in the U16 Girls Surrey Team, the London Regional U14’s Team, ESSA U14 Duke of Cambridge Cup. My biggest honour and achievement to date was being picked to play in a U14 England team at an international tournament in Spain.
Cricket – Sienna, Year 8
On Tuesday 27 February, a cricket team of Year 7 and Year 8 students set off for Lord’s Cricket Ground to play an exciting inter-school tournament. After winning all four of our group matches, we played St Benedict’s As in the semi-final. Thanks to an amazing team effort we made it to the final against Haberdashers’. We really enjoyed this match, shouting lots of encouragement to each other and taking risks (as we would say, “risk it for a biscuit”). Our team ethos paid off and we came home as champions. Well done everyone! Thanks also to our coach Mr Rebbetts.
Cross Country – Mrs Caroline Treacy
Many congratulations to Daisy L in Year 8 on becoming this season’s Surrey Cross Country League U13 Champion, clinching the title with three very consistent second place finishes.
