Abingdonian 2017

30 The Abingdonian Swimming The 2016-17 swimming season has seen the Swimming Club continue to grow in both its stature, and its achievements. Under the watchful guidance of Head Coach Amanda Ford all four age groups have exceeded expectations with the school’s swimming reputation on the Independent School circuit continuing to grow. In addition to its provision for pupils to compete both locally and nationally, this year has seen the inaugural partnership swimming sessions, during which Abingdon pupils worked collaboratively with pupils from Fitzharry’s School under the watchful guidance of Performance Squad Swimmers. Furthermore, new ventures into long-course training trips, and continued work with Abingdon Vale Swimming Club have enabled pupil performances to go from strength to strength. ESSA Secondary School’s Relay Championships Having qualified through the regional qualifier hosted by Abingdon, the U15 swimming squad ventured to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Pool to compete against the best schools in the country, for the English Schools’ Swimming Association National Relay Finals. The boys swam exceptionally, finishing overall in an agonising eleventh place, with a time of 2:02:52, only 0.46 seconds off a place in the final. The afternoon session saw the boys build on the momentum of the morning, finishing fifteenth overall in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay, 15 places higher than their qualifying position. Harrow Meet 2016 This annual event provides a fantastic opportunity for non-regular swimmers to represent the school. This year 23 swimmers represented the school across three different age groups, posing a tough challenge for the strong Harrow squad. The afternoon proved to be highly successful as the U14 won all of their races, setting six school records in their seven events, whilst the U16s and U18s won an equal number of races as they lost. Warwick 100’s Early in February, all three age groups took on separate challenges, including Harrow, Warwick, Whitgift, Bedford and Cheltenham. As anticipated they stepped up to the challenge, consistently placing high up. Both Daniel McNamara and Win Cheevadhanarak led from the front, achieving first place in the 100 metres breaststroke and 100 metres butterfly respectively, whilst the U15 Medley relay squad also finished in first place. Overall Abingdon had to settle for second place, an improvement on last year’s performance with only Harrow School collating more points during the afternoon. Abingdon Sprints In mid-February the Swimming Club hosted their annual Abingdon Sprints Swimming Gala, welcoming 9 independent schools from across the local area including Harrow, Bromsgrove, Cheltenham, Marlborough and Oratory. On what was a competitive and fast paced afternoon the U18 squad finished an incredible third, whilst the U16 team finished a creditable second. Building on previous outings, the U14s again led the field from start to finish on a number of occasions, finishing as convincing winners of their age group. Bromsgrove Relays In mid-March the Swimming Club made their annual trip to the Bromsgrove Relays, competing against schools