On Thursday 22nd October the swimming team took part in the North Downs Confederation Schools’ Swimming gala, which was held at Whitgift School. Thirty-one children from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 represented the school. Six other schools competed in the gala.  It was a very exciting afternoon, with St Anne’s finishing in third place with a total of 182 points. The gala was won by Walton-on-the- Hill School, who scored 195 points. All the children swam extremely well; they were impressively supported by our band of parents, who gave every child from St Anne’s rapturous applause as they reached the end of the pool!

Each team member played their part but I will make a special mention of the children who finished in first place. Those children were: Megan Kennedy, Eugene Falzon, Tereza Hobden, Declan Courtney, Erin Treacy, Ethan Watt, Dennis Cousins and Sam Rothwell. The Year 4 girls’ and boys’ relay teams also won their races. The girls team comprised Katie Costello, Abbie Manning, Ciara Sirkett and Tereza Hobden; the boys team was Patrick Murray, Tom Rothwell, Luca Battista and Declan Courtney. 

The rest of the team were Tom Rothwell, Holly Rayner, Ben Cross, Maddy Morrison, Imogen Harte-Jones, Rory Cogavin, Sophie Rackett, Michael Moorman, Kaeli Zonfrillo, Cameron Watt, Holly Dunford, Laura Foster, Sarah Peecock, Henry Stiff, Melissa Knott, Lachlan Coyle and Sian Hennessy.

Many thanks to the parents who transported the children and supported so enthusiastically. I am extremely grateful to Kathy Peecock for helping to team manage and to Ian Rothwell and Dean Watt who acted as timekeepers. My biggest thank you goes to Julie Rothwell, who has helped hugely with selecting and training the team and calmly instructing the swimmers before their races on the day.

We will all look forward to next years event!