As the winter slowly settles in, a core group of Newington’s die-hard swimmers continue to train and achieve fantastic results in the pool. After our successful GPS Swimming season in Term 1, 16 students progressed to represent Newington and the GPS at the CIS Swimming Championships in late April.  From there, seven boys : Christopher Mina (6/HO), Jack Xu (7/ME), Shannon Lowe-Griffiths (7/PR), Edward Wydell (7/ME), Marcus Dadd (9/ME), Jason Hartill (10/MO) and Callum Lowe-Griffiths (11/PR) earned the opportunity to compete for CIS at the NSW All Schools Swimming Championships which was a qualifying event for the Pacific School Games which is being held in Adelaide in November.

During the NSW All Schools meet, held on Monday 18 May at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, the Newington boys lifted the bar to new heights with some stellar performances. While all students swam admirably, there were a few stand out performances.  Year 11 “super fish” Callum Lowe-Griffiths won no fewer than four individual events on the day and qualified for the New South Wales team to race at the Pacific School Games (PSG) in six events. In the process Callum bettered five Newington College long course Swimming records.

Another of New’s big guns, Jason Hartill, was in super form touching the wall in second place in both the 15 Years 50 m and 100 m Butterfly races.  Jason broke one Newington record and is off to the PSG in his favourite events.

The strength of our Junior Swimming Team is proving to be extremely solid as four of the seven Newington students at All Schools competed in the 12 and 13 Years age categories.  Ed Wydell and Shannon-Lowe-Griffiths have been important new members of the team in 2015; and recent indications are showing they will continue to improve and reach representative level again in the future.  Jack Xu has been the stand out in the junior age division breaking a number of Newington 12 Years records and qualifying for PSG in three events. A surprise performance came from one of our Wyvern students, Christopher Mina, in his bid to race for NSW at the PSG when he won the 12 Years 50 m Butterfly event racing in a mixed primary/secondary schools race.

Marcus Dadd also swam in four multi-class events and is continuing to improve his best times with every race. Marcus has demonstrated that a bit of consistent training pays dividends. He is a regular attendee at morning swim squad sessions at the Newington Pool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Mr Ryan Moar
Director of Aquatics