Swimming

if some of them do fall in love, there doesn't have to be anything furtive about it.

Co-education can be creative without, contrary to popular superstition, having to be procreative too. The meeting of male and female approaches and sensibilities in the class-room is richer and more productive. And in English (which as any English teacher will tell you is the most important subject—and it is, because is promotes the synthesis of all that is most important and personal to the individual) it's possible to discuss Virginia Woolf, William Golding, or D. H. Lawrence, from more varied responses and levels, and therefore more meaningfully. Come to think of it, how could anyone seriously imagine that co-education amounts to little more than holding hands in the back row, pulsing away the moments till you can slope off behind some distant hedgerow? This is exactly the kind of immaturity it is designed to destroy.

This seems to me the chief point: that you never for a moment think of the establishment as being "co-ed" when you are in it: it just seems natural, and it is other types which seem bizarre. No doubt is isn't the answer for everyone: there are, I suppose, born (or early-conditioned) bachelors and spinsters who would be happier elsewhere, and quite a number of people who happily survive whatever form of education they are processed through. But for a boarding-school it strikes me (and, incidentally, educational psychologists too) as much more whole. I should like to have been educated at my school.

Tim Williams Tim Williams left the staff of St. Peter's in 1966 and is now a housemaster to seventy children at Bedales School, Hampshire.

In 1965 the new swimming pool was opened, a great improvement on the old one, both indoor and heated. We had two swimming matches, both were lost. Three years later, 1968, we had 11, 10 were won.

The obvious statement is that swimming has gone from strength to strength. This is apparent from the fact that the swimming team is made up of full-time swimmers only and that all but two of the School records are held by boys who are still present at the School. It should be mentioned that these School records are all of extremely high standard, there being few schools who have better ones

As well as our tremendous improvement in inter schools matches there has been a marked improvement in our performances in national schools relay competitions: Otter Club relay (freestyle) 1966-34th; 1967-20th; 1968-16th.

This year we also entered the Bath Cup relay, a medley relay in which we came 12th on virtually no training. With some hard training things look very rosy for next year. We were fortunate enough this year to be hosts for the Northern Schools relays here we also put up some fine performances reaching the three finals we tried for.

This progress can only be explained by the facts that people have been allowed to do swimming full-time in Easter and Summer terms, hence the formation of a swimming group. This has slowly grown in size and now sports enough members for more than the required team, thus bringing in the essential elements of competition for places in the team. This question of whether people should do just one sport full-time is one which tends to cause a lot of argument. We will no doubt be accused of being biased, however, it does seem that the "minor sports", swimming among them, come off worst.

This question of "major" or "minor" is decided by the authorities and one understands that major sports are the important ones, minor not so important. This seems to be slightly off beam as a sport is as important as a person makes it, thus as all members of teams do their best; their particular sport obviously seems as important to them as any other. Waterpolo is one of the things which has been re-introduced, several matches having been allowed in the evening as well as those on match days. Yet again a marked improvement in two teams is apparent.

The School swimming sports, as last year, were both successful and entertaining even if they did interefere with both "0" and "A" levels. However, it has been suggested that next year the heats could be held before "0" and "A" levels start, preferably on one or maybe two allotted days and that the 'finals be held all on the same day, after the main examinations are over.

Whatever happens next year, it is apparent from this year that there is a tremendous amount of swimming potential in the School. All that is needed is to spend more, very much more time in developing it by hard training. Start in the autumn term by building up strength, stamina and style, with distance swimming; Spring term, cutting down the distances and increasing the frequency, concentrating on arm, shoulder and leg strength and starting the season with a couple of easier matches. Then finally in the summer, training hard on intervals with a set time target.

This we hope is the way to make our record read—swum 11, won 11.

K.M., K.J.S., A.C.M.