THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
SPORT
W hat an historic academic year this has been! After the amazing quatercentenary celebrations, we moved into 2020 with a bounce in our step. Still high on the successes of hosting the London Olympiad in the beautiful Olympic pool, we had absolutely no idea of the emotional roller-coaster we were about to embark on. Before the schools closed and the competitions stopped, the DC swimmers managed to get in some memorable performances. There were a number of inter-schools galas both in the Junior School and Senior School, and we joined together with Dulwich Prep to host a regional round of the IAPS qualifying competition (sadly the national final event has now been cancelled). The U13 and U12 boys competed in the London Independent Swimming League A final and qualified for the grand final; this was a wonderful team effort from our young stars. There was, however, one final that did take place: the Bath Cup. This is the biggest national school swimming event, and one towards which we have been working for a number of years. The last 10 years have seen us consistently in the top 10 schools in the country, with a 4th place finish in 2017 being our highest achievement. So, back to Stratford and the Olympic pool we went, with what was potentially our fastest ever team, and real hope for gaining a podium finish. Sam Williams (Year 13), the Swimming and Water Polo Captain this year (and a fine example in both sports), was rested in the heats with his sole purpose in the final (if we made it) to swim a lifetime best in his last schoolboy swimming event. This allowed Zac Crowther (Year 9) to step up and swim in the heat SWIMMING TRACEY PALMER
SPORT
BASKETBALL
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HARRY WAIGHT AND THEO LADURE (YEAR 9)
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This was it – the day to deliver, the day to finish off the season by lifting the glorious LISBA Cup, fought between City of London, Whitgift, KCS Wimbledon and ourselves. There was no room for error. The team knew that getting stuck in from the very first blow of the whistle was crucial as their first opponents, City of London, would not be easy opposition. As usual, Dulwich’s main tactic, quick breakaways, relied on the great athletic abilities of the players. Their game, however, got off to a slow start, following which a much-needed talk from Mr Monson put them back on track. They showed great endurance during the latter half of the game. With great communication, passing and rebounds, the team was back, ending the game with a remarkable last quarter. Unfortunately though, the sudden outburst in confidence had come too late. Learning from their previous performance, the team went into the 3rd/4th place playoff with a renewed hunger to finish off the season on a high against KCS Wimbledon. The accolades definitely go to James Lumeh-Kamara, who so nearly clinched the all-important title of ‘best shot of the year’ with an impressive attempt at the legendary ‘half-court buzzer beater’, hitting both sides of the rim but somehow not succeeding in his valiant endeavour. A very dominant victory gave Dulwich a well-deserved bronze medal, while City of London took the trophy home. This season has proven to be a huge success for the team, and the Herculean leap in progress can be attributed to Mr Monson’s tremendous coaching and the team’s unfailing determination. A bright future awaits.
great debut season for the U14s started with their first game in the London Independent School Basketball Association (LISBA) season – a local derby against neighbouring Alleyn’s. The team fought hard for a 46–13 win, showing promising signs for the future. They continued their winning ways by beating a talented Whitgift outfit in a nail-biting four-point win, Tyler Biggs stealing the show with 17 points. In the SSLP (Southwark Schools Learning Partnership) tournament the team got their entry to their first playoffs by very closely sneaking the fourth seed. They came through the semi-finals to meet Kingsdale in the final. However, Kingsdale were too strong on the day, and Dulwich had to settle for the second-place medal. The team then went through a tough spell of games, losing three in succession. They worked hard at training by scrimmaging with the older teams to help bounce back, and their hard work paid off as they beat Whitgift a second time. The game saw the U14s under pressure, with the score at 23–30 in favour of the opposition. With 6mins 20secs left to go in the fourth quarter, the team embarked on a comeback few would have seen coming, winning the game 35–30. This match had almost qualified the team for the LISBA playoffs and, with the help of a few results in the team’s favour, got them another fourth seed. With an impressive first regular season coming to an end they had suffered losses but had caused upsets within the league. Now was their chance to go all the way in year one.
with the senior team. And swim he did, achieving a wonderful lifetime best, as well as securing 6th place and a place in the final alongside Willem Koster, Sam Ridgely and Aryaan Din. The team talk was had, and they lined up for the final in Lane 6, next to last year’s champions, Campbell College Belfast. Willem went off first and had clearly decided we were going to win, setting his own lifetime best and allowing Sam Ridgely to take over in a clear first place. Not to be outdone by his teammates, Sam not only held the lead but extended it, swimming faster than he has ever done before, giving our captain every motivation as he took over for the third leg. Although I was confident in Sam Williams’ ability, he had never actually swum the time I had targeted him and afterwards admitted he wasn’t sure he could swim that fast. However, as good captains do, he gave everything, and produced over a 3-second personal best, giving Aryaan a take over still in first place. Aryaan has had a stellar season in the pool and was in fine form. Did we dare to believe …? As the final Campbell College swimmer was a 100m freestyle champion and capable of a time at least three seconds faster than any of our boys can currently swim, the race was certainly on. Aryaan hit the 50m turn still in first place but his lead was now being eaten up stroke by stroke. His confidence was there though, and he dug in and fought back. As we approached the last five metres it was too close to call. We all looked up at the giant screen and there it was – 1st: Dulwich College! Relief, euphoria, and probably every emotion in between, were experienced in equal measure by all. Winning isn’t everything in sport – we know that – but when you do win, my goodness it feels great. This was the first time in our history we have won the 4x100m freestyle event, and by the narrowest of margins, in what was an epic race. The John Nelson Medley took place later in the afternoon and again featured some wonderful swims. With our stroke specialists Kamran Din and Andrew Rowland joining the team, it was a very proud day for all of us.
A S U S U A L , D U LW I C H ’ S M A I N T A C T I C , Q U I C K B R E A K A W A Y S , R E L I E D O N T H E G R E A T A T H L E T I C A B I L I T I E S O F T H E P L A Y E R S
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