House Swimming Gala - Thursday 30 June

Yesterday, Thursday 30 June, Years 4, 5 and 6 went to Chesham pool to participate in our annual House Swimming Gala.

This is meant to be a fun experience although competitive in nature, where all pupils participate and support their houses by giving their best whether they are strong or weak swimmers. This year was no different.

The day started well with a good turn out of parents to spectate the Year 4 session. All participants in each year group swam both a 25m front crawl and backstroke race and finished with a freestyle relay in teams of 6, 7 or 8.
There were some truly courageous performances especially from those who do not find swimming easy. For some pupils this term was the first time they had covered 25m whether aided or unaided; for others 25m is an easy distance to swim.

Chloe R and Rhuben P swam beautifully with a woggle with great effort and a smile. There were some really close races where 2 people could not be split with timing. In the last of the FC races Lucy Q, a strong club swimmer, swam so well she broke the House record set in 2011 (17.79) by Jessica T with a new time of 16.69, so well done Lucy!

All the Year 4 children worked really hard and showed great spirit in supporting their houses. The races were closely fought with only a few points between the houses by the end of the backstroke races. With relays counting double points Brunel managed to take the lead beating Jenner by only 6 points. Only one point separated Barnardo from Seacole!

Result Year 4 -- 1st Brunel 2nd Jenner 3rd Barnardo 4th Seacole

The Year 5 races seemed even more exciting as no one was absent in Year 5 so most races had four competitors.

Seacole took an early lead but Brunel were hot on their heels throughout the front crawl races and at the end of this section of the gala the scores were tied between them Barnardo and Jenner were not far behind and with only one point between them. The backstroke races were fantastic and here Cameron W succeeded in swimming the length unaided for the first time, a great achievement. Well done Cameron! Seacole were just ahead at the end of the back stroke races which left the result down to the relays where double points are on offer. Seacole managed to win both relays securing their victory over Brunel.

Result Year 5 -- 1st Seacole 2nd Brunel 3rd Jenner 4th Barnardo

When Year 4 results were added to year 5 results it was clear that it could still be any of the 4 houses to win the cup. It was all down to the year 6 competition!

The Year 6 children competing, not only raced with determination but they were supportive of others whether in their house or not. This was really good to see.

The lead changed between Brunel and Barnardo throughout front crawl races. The last 3 races in the front crawl section were nail biting with all four houses so close to each other but with Barnardo pipping the others to 1st place in all of them. In the last race Jessica C managed to hold her lead over Ethan H closely followed by Cormac N and Guy J.
By the end of this section, however, Barnardo was in the lead by just 3 points.

The back crawl races began with great determination and Barnardo holding onto their lead. But Brunel was consistent, coming 2nd if not 1st in most of their races. At the end of the individual races Barnardo were still in the lead but by only a few points. All was to play for once again in the Relay races.

Jenner took the opportunity and won the first relay, with Brunel coming 2nd.
The result in the final relay was with Barnardo giving them the double points needed to secure their win over Brunel.

Result Year 6 -- 1st Barnardo 2nd Brunel 3rd Jenner 4th Seacole

The Overall Result with all years totalled together

When added together Brunel were clear winners, however second place was taken by Barnardo who were only ahead of Jenner by one point. Seacole, though last, were only 6 points behind them.

1st Brunel 2nd Barnardo 3rd Jenner 4th Seacole

Congratulations to all pupils for a superbly fought gala full of fun, excitement and effort. You should all be proud of your achievements especially those who find swimming difficult but persevere no matter what all the way to the finish. Thank you for making it such a great day. The best one ever I believe.

Finally I would like to thank everyone, the children, the staff, the parents and of course Mr Grosse and Mrs La Farge for all the support and encouragement I have had whilst I have been responsible for swimming at Gateway. It has been a real pleasure. I will, though retired, still keep in touch and will come back to watch future matches and galas just to see you all.

Many thanks again

Mrs Hughes