On Wednesday 17 March 2016 a new and exciting event occurred at Newington Lindfield. The school that has forever been caught in the shadow of ‘big brother’ Wyvern has pushed ahead and conducted their own swimming carnival for its inaugural year in the beautiful surrounds of Newington Stanmore. 134 keen and eager swimmers took to centre stage for what was to be a enthralling battle between Rydal and Kingswood.

In the 8 years age group, Matthew Webster held his own, challenged only by the fast finishing Hamish Johnston who was a constant threat in every event. In the 9 years it was the Diesel James show, as he scorched the pool in each event he was a part of. The technically correct Oliver Senior was a steady performer, placing in every event and claiming the runner up in the 9 years as a result. Other strong performers were Lachlan Tai, Aidan Chandler and Marcus Yoo.

In the 10 years age group, a superb battle ensued between Harry Forsyth, Nicklas Koehler and Ryan Ng. Ng got the better of Forsyth early as he took out his heat of the 50m freestyle, but it was Forsyth with the final laugh as he took out the final, and therefore the title. Koehler was a consistent performer, placing in each event he was a part of, and claiming the runner up tag. Other strong performers were Oscar Roche, Tom Gray, Mika Koskela, and Hugo Grehan.

The 11 years was even more intriguing than the 10’s as Ethan Hardwick and Owen Ng battled it out across two year groups. Ethan controlled the Year 5 side of things, entering every event and placing in every one, while Owen challenged Lachlan Hull in the Year 6 group. In the end it came down to one event…everyone’s personal favourite in Butterfly that decided the age championship and with Hardwick taking it out it went to him, with Ng close behind. Other strong performers were James Knight, Tas Meldrum, Luke Avati, Cooper Stewart, Christian Biasotto, Piran Barker, Kyle Halfpenny and Charlie Burt.

The 12 years saw the superstar Swim Captain, Lachlan Hull, sweep the pool with victories in every event, with a personal race tally of 9 races across the 3 hours. The surprise packet Joe Yoshida was not far behind Hull, finishing 2nd or 3rd in every event behind him. Other strong performers were Oliver Short, Eddie Hogg, Charlie Carr and Dimitri Vallas.

So after the fanfare had settled, the war cries were over, the points collated and the pool cleared, it was Rydal in a landslide victory, showing once again that you have to be in it to win it. Rydal had a greater contingent of swimmers in every event and this ultimately led to their eventual victory. Time for a quick breath, and it is off to the QUAD Carnival for a select few on the 15 March!

Mark Caulfield – Sports Master