Strathfield was the venue once more for the final carnival of the year. Excitement reigned as a warm, sunny day in an outdoor pool offered cool relief for the masses. Ominous storm clouds loomed, however, and the organisers, aware, started the carnival promptly and efficiently.

Being a 33m pool, times were quite irrelevant, but the desire to finish off the year with victories was still very evident as every Newington boy stepped up to the blocks. First into the crystal clear waters was talented youngster Lewis Saupin for the 9 years Individual Medley. Saupin was outstanding, charging home to finish 2nd with a powerful display. Sebastian Parhash backed this up with a 3rd placing in the 10 years. Lachlan Hull took one for the team in the 11 years with a 5th placing, with Tom Oates taking out his event in fine style. Jarrah Ronan closed out the field with a strong 3rd placing in his event.

Freestyle was next, and with it, the young guns flexed their future muscles once more. To speed up the carnival in light of the impending storm, the 4th and 3rd divisions were placed in the same race for the 9 years events. This allowed Jamie De Botton and Daniel Johnson to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively, with Harry Forsyth 4th, and Lewis Saupin charging home once more to take out the division 1 event. The 10 years saw some great performances, first from Jayden Stanton-Keir and Henry Isherwood who were both 2nd in their divisions. Nicholas Venetoulis and Sebastian Parhash then had some very stiff opposition as they swam home in 3rd and 4th respectively. Harrison Loeffler was the best placed of the 11 years year 5’s as he finished 3rd in his respective event. James McGregor and Cody Rixom were 4th with Lachlan Hull 6th. The 11 years Year 6’s saw Dominic Goonan and Tom Oates finish 2nd, with Will Gray 3rd and Zachary Papadimitriou 4th. Finally the 12 years saw brilliant swims from Will Rumi and Tom Baird on their way to victory in their divisions. Jarrah Ronan was then 4th, with Chris Mina an impressive 2nd in the 1st division.

Breaststroke saw the kings of the slow stroke take centre stage, with some excellent results. Harry Forsyth and Jamie De Botton started things off in the same race, again finishing 3rd and 2nd respectively. Daniel Johnson was 2nd in his event with the every-improving Saupin 1st once again. Matthew Torrible and Nicholas Venetoulis were both very impressive in their heats as they both finished 2nd, with Sebastian Parhash 1st in his. Charlie Carr and Nathan Ma flew the Lindfield flag in the 11 years year 5 events, both finishing 2nd in their heats, with Lachlan Hull 4th. Cody Rixom and Dominic Goonan were 4th in their events, with Will Gray 3rd, and Tom Oates first in their events. The 12 years saw Tom Alscher in the premier heat, where he finished a highly commendable 4th, with Fallon Fotaras and Jarrah Ronan 3rd, and Chris Mina 1st in his event.

Lewis Saupin made it a treble of 1st places as he took out the backstroke event, with Oscar Neale 4th and Toby Torrible 3rd. Jayden Stanton-Keir was 5th in the 10 years backstroke, with Henry Isherwood and Sebastian Parhash both 3rd in their events. Flynn Stokes was 5th in the 11 years year 5 event, with Cody Rixom 4th and Lachlan Hull 5th. Zac Papadimitriou finished strongly in 4th in the 11 years year 6 event, before a brace of 1sts from Will Gray and Tom Oates. Dominic Goonan and Chris Mina were back at it in the 12 years with 2nd placings from both, before Jarrah Ronan rounded out the field with a 4th placing.

Butterfly was next as the 100m freestylers were given the opportunity to rest, with Daniel Johnson and Lewis Saupin finish 3rd and 2nd respectively. Jayden Stanton-Keir and Sebastian Parhash then shared the 2nd heat of the 10 years butterfly to great effect, finishing 2nd and 1st for a clean sweep, with Henry Ishewood 3rd in his heat. Cody Rixom and Lachlan Hull were 4th and 5th in their heats in the 11 years, before a 5th placing from Will Gray and an excellent 1st from Tom Oates. Jarrah Ronan then took out his butterfly event, spurred on by encouragement from his sportsmaster!! Chris Mina then narrowly missed 1st in his heat by a fingernail.

The relays rounded out this great event with the freestyle relays producing some magnificent performances. The 9 years powerhouses were 1st in their event with Saupin again displaying his brilliant credentials closing it out. The 10 years and 11 years year 6 teams were both 2nd in their events, with the 12 years 3rd and the 11 years year 5’s 5th. The 9 years were then at it again in the medley relay, this time supported by the 10 years and 11 years year 6 teams in finishing 1st. For these year 6 boys, it was a great way to close out their time at Newington Prep. The 11 years year 5 boys toiled hard for another 5th placing, and the 12 years were highly impressive in finishing 2nd in their last outing also.

So after a year of hard toil and brilliant performances, we say farewell from the sporting fields, pools and tracks. Thank you to all the parents who have supported along the way, the staff for their ongoing guidance and support and of course the boys who have made this year such a great success.

Mark Caulfield – Sports Master