2 minute read
Swimming & Waterpolo
Churcher’s swimming continues to grow in strength, both at development and competitive level. Swim squad sessions frequently attract over 20 swimmers and the early morning sessions have seen the highest numbers certainly for a few years.
In the Hampshire relay championships, the Inter boys’ team (Felix Brockdorff, Max Cropley, Alex Paton and Lewis Jordan) were the most successful on the day, being crowned Hampshire champions in the medley relay and second in the freestyle. We also had other second place finishes: the junior girls in both freestyle and medley relays and the senior boys in the freestyle medley.
Both the Inter and Senior boys earned qualification for the ESSA relay finals at the Olympic Park, in both the freestyle and medley relays. Unfortunately, the Inter boys had to withdraw but this was still a brilliant day with the boys finishing 21st in the country for both relays.
With COVID-19 lockdown looming, we just managed to return to the Aquatics Centre for the Bath Cup, where both the girls and boys open teams had some excellent swims. For the first time, the boys made the final for the John Nalson Medley relay and finished 12th in the Bath Cup (two places up on last year’s performance). The girls finished fourth in the R L Stead Medley relay; a fine achievement for such a young team.
Sadly, the swimming season was unable to be completed and favourite events such as the Churcher’s biathlon championships and the Henley Classic Open Water did not happen. Roll on next year! Mrs K Higgins Waterpolo Despite the fact the waterpolo season was cut a little short, we had a great cup run with a fantastic 6-1 win against Cheltenham College in the final round with strong performances from Alex Sandberg and Thomas Parmenter, taking the school team further in a national competition than ever before with a bronze medal finish. We also won a triangular tournament against Basingstoke and Portsmouth earlier in the season thanks to fine goals from Tim Orchard, Rory Plewes and Henry Plewes. We look forward to seeing some new faces and some great matches next year.
Will Hipsey (Captain)
