SWIMMING SUCCESS IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL
by two seconds, the team was full of confidence heading into the ESSA National Relay final up in Sheffield hoping to become double national champions. The last time Dulwich College won the national event was in 2010 with Max Tidmarsh, Cameron Forbes, Buzz Robb and Finn Hanrahan who have all swum and played water polo throughout their time at DC and finished here this year as Year 13 leavers. In the medley relay qualifying, Dulwich produced a phenomenal display. Miss Palmer’s instruction was for ‘simple, safe takeovers’ and 63.4 seconds later, and over two seconds faster than anyone else, the boys finished to a standing ovation for the performance they had just produced. They had narrowly missed the national record by two tenths of a second! The all-important final came and another 63 (and a bit) seconds later, the gold medal was theirs and the trophy was coming home on the train to Dulwich. Then to the freestyle relay and the more closely contested of the two events. DC and Dulwich Prep London both qualified fastest for the final, in which the teams went tooth and nail for the title. An exhilarating finish saw DPL take the gold ahead of DC by two tenths of a second, both schools swimming their fastest ever swims with a 57.5 and a 57.7. The result meant that Dulwich College and Dulwich Prep London shared the U11 National overall title and all three trophies travelled back to Dulwich, although one of them will spend six months in DPL’s trophy cabinet before it makes its way around the corner to take its place in ours. Well done for the commitment shown by all the boys involved in swim squad over the past year and in particular to the U11 squad for their outstanding achievements.
Q The Junior School swim squad enjoyed another highly successful year in the pool, with the U11 squad leading the way with numerous achievements. In May, the U11s were faced with the unenviable task of defending their IAPS National Champions
title in Crawley. The team, made up of Theo Djidetchian, Zac Crowther, Alex Williams and Christo Chilton, took some comfort from the familiar surroundings, but the nerves were very much jangling prior to the event. However they needn’t have worried as they finished the relays tied for first with Millfield. This meant that the team title depended on the outcome of the individual events. Theo and Zac came third in the butterfly and breaststroke respectively; Alex produced a lifetime best in the backstroke to come second, and Christo finished fifth in the freestyle. Since Christo finished ahead of the Millfield competitor, this ensured that Dulwich College retained the U11 IAPS National Champions title. A small surprise was in store for the boys as they collected their medals and trophy. It was presented by international swimmer and two time Olympian, Michael Jamieson. Next on the boys’ agenda was the London Schools Swimming Association final held at JAGS. Eight boys qualified for the finals from the Junior School but Oliver Warner and Nicky Makrak-Singh were unable to compete as they were away on a school trip. As well as Oliver and Nicky, two other boys from Year 5 also qualified for the finals, Alessandro Russo (7th) and Boxi Soo (3rd), which is a fantastic achievement given it is a Year 6 event. Christo Chilton won a bronze in the 50m freestyle in a season’s best time and also won a silver medal in the 100m IM in a brilliantly closely fought race. Zac Crowther won gold in the breaststroke, Theo Djidetchian won gold in the butterfly and a very sick, injured Alex Williams still managed to win gold in the backstroke. It was another successful day at the office! Having just beaten the long standing school relay record
67
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online