Trinity Invitational Swimming Carnival

Term 4 has dawned upon us again with great speed and anticipation as the end of the year looms. It also means some fun and exciting swimming carnivals to finish with. The Trinity Invitational is always a hotly contested one as the three great rivals in Newington, Scots and Trinity battle it out for swimming supremacy. And as always, it starts with a bang in the form of an individual medley, or two.

First to brave the cool Summer Hill waters was young gun Sebastian Parhash, who steamed home to win in an excellent time of 1:26.31 seconds. The understated and brilliant Tom Oates was also impressive in finishing 4th in his IM event. The 8 years then took to the big stage with amazing results as Orlando Mina and Sam Chittenden both taking out their respective freestyle events, with Liam West (2nd), and Joel Zipeure (4th). Jamie De Botton (4th), Daniel Johnson (3rd), Harry Forsyth (5th) and Lewis Saupin (3rd) then continued the great form in the 9 years events.

The 10 years saw the calibre of swimmer move up a notch as the boys in black and white narrowly missed the podium in the form of Sebastian Parhash, Nicholas Venetoulis and Henry Isherwood. Jayden Stanton-Keir broke from the mould however as he finished 1st in his respective freestyle event. In the 11 years it was Harrison Loeffler (5th), Will Gray (3rd), Lachlan Hull (4th) and Tom Oates (1st) flying the Newington flag for freestyle. Oates was particularly impressive as he flew home in a time of 31.37 seconds. From one swim captain to the next in the 12 years saw Jarrah Ronan (4th), Will Rumi (3rd), Tom Baird (3rd) and Chris Mina (3rd) find the going tough in the very competitive Opens division.

The young brigade were then back in action in the breaststroke with Sam Chittendon, Joel Zipeure and Orlando Mina all finishing 2nd in their events, with Harry Forsyth (4th), Daniel Johnson (2nd) and Lewis Saupin (3rd) again showing why the future looks bright with Newington swimming. The 10 years was a black and white demolition as Matthew Torrible and Sebastian Parhash took out their events, with Nicholas Venetoulis finishing 3rd. Nathan Ma (2nd) then joined James McGregor (6th) and Tom Oates (2nd) in the 11 years, before Tom Alscher (2nd), Fallon Fotaras (3rd) and Jarrah Ronan (5th) rounded out the field in the Opens.

The backstroke then came and went in a flurry of arms and legs, with stand out performances from Orlando Mina (1st), Toby Torrible (2nd), Jayden Stanton-Keir (1st) once more, Tom Oates (1st) and Chris Mina (2nd). Sebastian Parhash and Chris Mina then combined for the Junior and Senior 100m Freestyle events, with Parhash finishing 4th and Mina 3rd in a hotly contested race.

The butterfly then rounded out the individual events with Orlando Mina following in his brother’s footsteps with a commanding victory in the 8 years event. This was backed up by performances from Joel Zipeure (2nd), Lewis Saupin (2nd), Sebastian Parhash (1st), Tom Oates (1st), Jarrah Ronan (2nd) and a fast finishing Chris Mina (3rd). the drama, however, was only beginning as the relays took full flight!

First it was the junior medley relay which saw Jayden Stanton-Keir, Henry Isherwood, Nicholas Venetoulis and Sebastian Parhash battle it out with the best of the business from Sydney’s South West. The result was a brilliant finish which saw the young brigade take out the event, much to the delight of the raucous crowd in attendance. They would again be up on their feet soon after as the senior team of Tom Oates, Jarrah Ronan, Chris Mina and Tom Baird narrowly missed top billing in finishing 2nd.

The freestyle relays rounded out the event with the brilliant 8 years team of Orlando Mina, Sam Chittendon, Liam West and Joel Zipeure taking out the event, with the 9 years 3rd and the 10 years fighting all the way to the wall to finish 2nd in their event. The 11 years saw the brilliant Tom Oates almost pull something incredible out of the bag as he pushed the team to 3rd with a brilliant last leg that almost had them vying for top spot. Finally another close finish saw the powerhouses from Scots and Trinity overcome the Open swimmers as they finished 3rd in the premier event.

So after another memorable showing at yet another swimming carnival, we set our sights firmly on St Pat’s, and look forward to the outdoors, the cool water, and the 33m pool!!  

Match of the Round

Senior B Black Basketball v Grammar Edgecliff

The first of the Summer Sport matches for Term 4 kicked off with a thriller at the hallowed Newington Lindfield courts. The Senior B Black team took to the court with plenty of purpose and enthusiasm but soon found themselves behind on the scoreboard with some excellent passing movements from the Edgecliff boys. They were also particularly good in front of goal, sinking eight baskets in an impressive display of attacking Basketball. By contrast, the boys in black and white looked as though they were still on holidays as fatigue set in at the back end of the half. Half time it was 16-4 in favour of the men in black and gold.

The second half started with two quick baskets to the Lindfield men, and the likes of Lachlan Hull, James Makris, Harry O’Connor and Sam Bristow started to take control of the match. Another beautifully constructed attacking formation had Newington on the attack and mistakes started to sink the Grammar boys as wave after wave of Newington attack came their way. The lead was taken in the last minute when a free throw was put through and a slender one point advantage was theirs. The last minute was frantic as Grammar threw everything at the Lindfield defence which stayed strong and true. As the final whistle sounded, euphoria and relief could be felt around the packed court as the first win of the final term was had. 19-18 to the men in black and white!  

Sporting Stars

Aiden Mostofi

Aiden catapulted into 2015 when he was selected to compete in the IPSHA Football team to play in the CIS tournament. His incredible speed and great vision put him at the top of the tree for CIS selection and he went onto the PSSA tournament where he narrowly missed selection to the state team. This blinding speed led him to similar accolades on the athletics track as he was selected to compete at the CIS championships in several events. Winning the 200m event in fine style and qualifying in both the 100m and long jump events, Mostofi found himself at the PSSA Championships once more.

Eddie Hogg

A very talented baseballer, Eddie turned his hand to Softball this year and was selected to compete for the CIS team to compete at the State Championships. This is the first time CIS has sent a team to the PSSA Championships and Eddie was one of the youngest to compete. The team won 5 out of 9 matches and finished a very impressive 8th overall, and although Eddie was not picked for the State team, one may wonder what lay ahead for this very talented young ball player.

AJ Whitnall and Garth Bickford

Sailing is not a sport we associate with much in our Lindfield community, but for these talented youngsters it is a way of life and a weekend ritual. Both boys have had great successes in the deep, wide ocean and have competed both locally and interstate. AJ’s latest exploits was at the ACT Championships where he finished 3rd out of 154 competitors. I can see the headline now, young Australian duo take Gold at the Olympic Games…..At least we can say that we knew them when it all began!!