After two false starts to the term with the Auckland flooding events and Cyclone Gabrielle, it was great to have the sun shining on Wednesday 22nd for our students to participate and compete in the annual Swimming Sports. It was a fantastic day all round, with a great mix of students participating for the fun of it, some for the first time, and our competitive swimmers showcasing their talents.

The competitive spirit and house pride was evident as the day kicked off with a warm-up for all swimmers, doing as many lengths as possible to accrue points for their house, with Tāne Mahuta taking the early lead in the day’s points with an impressive 83 laps, followed by Raumoko with 67 laps, and Tama-nui-te-rā having an unfortunate hiccup with a lane rope detaching, but still managing to get 49 laps on the board.

It was then straight into the age-group and individual stroke heats, with some very hotly contested racing, and a couple of very close finishes that kept timekeepers and judges on their toes, and were great entertainment for the boisterous and excited spectatorship of classes and fellow competitors who cheered them on. The energy and buzz of the supporting students lasted throughout the day, and was ramped up during the exhilarating finals, and the house relay which saw Tama-nui-te-rā take the top spot, followed closely by Tāne Mahuta and Raumoko.

There was seven school records broken throughout the meet:

Tanner Costin -Intermediate Boys1L Freestyle – 18.39 seconds (old record was 19.09)
Lukas Turner – Junior Boys 1L Backstroke – 23.18 (old record was 23.91); Junior Boys 2L Backstroke – 52.59 (old record was 53.93); Junior Boys Medley – 1.54.91 (old record was 1.56.22)
Dylan Marais – Intermediate Boys 1L Backstroke – 21.44 (old record was 22.15); Intermediate Boys 2L Backstroke – 49.44 (old record was 56.00)
Dylan Chapman – Intermediate Boys Medley – 1.46.56 (old record 1.54.00)

The staff v Sports Committee/Prefects relay was a great highlight, and provided a huge amount of entertainment on the day. Though the staff employed some sneaky tactics, the race was very, very closely contested, but Staff were victorious by less than one stroke!

Congratulation to the following students who have been crowned our swimming champions:

Junior Girls 
1st Amy Thomson 1st Lukas Turner
2nd Aria Costin
3rd Amy Cosslet

Intermediate Girls
1st Nina Lyon
2nd Jessie Skinner
3rd Alex Poor

Senior Girls
1st Emma Chapman
2nd Geo Lee

Junior Boys
1st Lukas Turner
2nd Jeremy Lyon
3rd Jahvann Hinton

Intermediate Boys
1st Dylan Marais
2nd Dylan Chapman
3rd Zach Petley

Senior Boys
1st Theo RobbMarkham
2nd Charlie Isaac-Adshead
3rd Luke Gibson

After tallying all of the aspects in which houses could earn points the Swimming Sports House Champions for 2023 was Raumoko with 1,339 points. Hot on their heels was Tama-nui-te-rā with 1,259 points, and Tāne Mahuta with 996.

A huge thank you to all staff that assisted on the day, and to our Sports Committee who put in a great amount of effort in setting everything up, managing the BBQ, and executing a number of roles throughout the day, along with competing successfully in the event itself, thank you very much!