With the lingering heat of summer still in the air, the students of Shearwater hit the Petria Thomas Memorial Pool in Mullumbimby for the 2023 swimming carnivals.
For our Primary children the day was all about fun and participation. The younger swimmers enjoyed water-based games and challenges that ensured everyone got wet and active. From Marco Polo to crystal hunting and dolphin diving, everyone had an opportunity to get into the pool and have some fun with their friends.
The older Primary children started their day with an ‘all-in’ continuous relay race that pitched year level against year level to see which group could swim the most half-lengths (25m) of the pool. In a tight contest it was the Class 6s who set the top score. The senior Primary school swimmers then had the opportunity to enjoy some racing before rotating through the fun-based water activities. A wonderful day was enjoyed by all!
The High School cohort (Years 7 to 10) began their annual splash with an all-in continuous relay which was taken out by the very enthusiastic Class 7s. And didn’t they let the older years know it! Next year's relay is sure to be intriguing when the older classes seek revenge on their younger rivals and the Class 6 champions step-up.
The racing started with the freestyle events before swimmers challenged themselves to race across 50m in each of the remaining strokes - breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly. The day concluded with the 100m freestyle events. The students swam with enthusiasm and a real sense of fun throughout the day. Special mention goes to a number of students who scored results across a range of disciplines:
Year 7
Matilda Valencia-Shepherd had 4 x 1st place swims for an outstanding day in the pool. Leni McCormick and Hazel Willis each had multiple top three finishes, with Elke Hegh and Minka Mant also grabbing places. Romney Champion had 5 x 1st place finishes which was a remarkable achievement! Pax Hayes, Buddy Wallace and Lucas Franken each had multiple place finishes.
Year 8
Shanti Puzzarini swam a very impressive 4 x 1st place finishes. Stella Parsonage finished her day with 5 top three finishes. Piper Elliot and Mahlia Payn also scored a number of top three places. Omar Bradbury had an outstanding day completing 5 from 5 1st place finishes. Nouveau Fallon-Lau, Oliver Heath, Milo Morris and Finley Pichler each had top three finishes.
Year 9
Alankar Hagedoom-Storey set the tone with a win in the opening freestyle race. Whilst Poppy Littlewood had a top three finish in two races and Luka-Mali Carnovale grabbed herself a couple of place finishes. Arky Michel-Massey also had a great day with a number of placings across multiple strokes. Sylphan Karabash won the boys freestyle and was pushed by Giacomo Midlam and Tage Lawrence with Zai Birkkjaer also having a solid swim.
Year 10
Darcie Miller-Sharp dominated this year with a very impressive 4 x 1st place finishes. Olive Lancaster and Scout Dunsire each swam into place finishes. Oliver Fernley set a high standard for the senior boys with a first place in all 5 races he entered. Elvis Wallace scored two seconds with place finishes going to Sol Bailey, Nish Geitz and Jed Brain across the strokes.
NCIS Regionals
Team Shearwater headed into the NCIS regionals buoyed by the strength of a number of dominant swimmers from each age division. Unfortunately the carnival coincided with the Year 8 camp seeing a number of our team not make it - I’m sure plenty of swimming at Straddie more than made up!
Year 7 was heavily represented with Romeny Champion, Leni McCormick, Hazel Willis and Matilda Valencia-Shepherd all swimming multiple races on the day. The regionals are always a big step-up as our students face off against young swimmers from other schools, some of whom look like they could be preparing for an Olympics! But none were deterred and each had a wonderful day challenging themselves and cheering on their mates - each came away talking excitedly about how they will prepare for next year! But it was Oliver Fernly (our sole senior high school representative) who really showed he can mix it with the top swimmers in the region. Oliver finished the meet with two top ten finishes in an extremely competitive age division. Well-done to Oliver who really isn’t far off representing our region at the state championships - a great goal for next year.
And so the swimming carnival season concludes and we head into the school cross-country events, which again offer opportunities for our students to take their skills and fitness to the NCIS regionals course later this year - let the training begin!
Dallas Hewett
Sport Cooridinator
For our Primary children the day was all about fun and participation. The younger swimmers enjoyed water-based games and challenges that ensured everyone got wet and active. From Marco Polo to crystal hunting and dolphin diving, everyone had an opportunity to get into the pool and have some fun with their friends.
The older Primary children started their day with an ‘all-in’ continuous relay race that pitched year level against year level to see which group could swim the most half-lengths (25m) of the pool. In a tight contest it was the Class 6s who set the top score. The senior Primary school swimmers then had the opportunity to enjoy some racing before rotating through the fun-based water activities. A wonderful day was enjoyed by all!
The High School cohort (Years 7 to 10) began their annual splash with an all-in continuous relay which was taken out by the very enthusiastic Class 7s. And didn’t they let the older years know it! Next year's relay is sure to be intriguing when the older classes seek revenge on their younger rivals and the Class 6 champions step-up.
The racing started with the freestyle events before swimmers challenged themselves to race across 50m in each of the remaining strokes - breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly. The day concluded with the 100m freestyle events. The students swam with enthusiasm and a real sense of fun throughout the day. Special mention goes to a number of students who scored results across a range of disciplines:
Year 7
Matilda Valencia-Shepherd had 4 x 1st place swims for an outstanding day in the pool. Leni McCormick and Hazel Willis each had multiple top three finishes, with Elke Hegh and Minka Mant also grabbing places. Romney Champion had 5 x 1st place finishes which was a remarkable achievement! Pax Hayes, Buddy Wallace and Lucas Franken each had multiple place finishes.
Year 8
Shanti Puzzarini swam a very impressive 4 x 1st place finishes. Stella Parsonage finished her day with 5 top three finishes. Piper Elliot and Mahlia Payn also scored a number of top three places. Omar Bradbury had an outstanding day completing 5 from 5 1st place finishes. Nouveau Fallon-Lau, Oliver Heath, Milo Morris and Finley Pichler each had top three finishes.
Year 9
Alankar Hagedoom-Storey set the tone with a win in the opening freestyle race. Whilst Poppy Littlewood had a top three finish in two races and Luka-Mali Carnovale grabbed herself a couple of place finishes. Arky Michel-Massey also had a great day with a number of placings across multiple strokes. Sylphan Karabash won the boys freestyle and was pushed by Giacomo Midlam and Tage Lawrence with Zai Birkkjaer also having a solid swim.
Year 10
Darcie Miller-Sharp dominated this year with a very impressive 4 x 1st place finishes. Olive Lancaster and Scout Dunsire each swam into place finishes. Oliver Fernley set a high standard for the senior boys with a first place in all 5 races he entered. Elvis Wallace scored two seconds with place finishes going to Sol Bailey, Nish Geitz and Jed Brain across the strokes.
NCIS Regionals
Team Shearwater headed into the NCIS regionals buoyed by the strength of a number of dominant swimmers from each age division. Unfortunately the carnival coincided with the Year 8 camp seeing a number of our team not make it - I’m sure plenty of swimming at Straddie more than made up!
Year 7 was heavily represented with Romeny Champion, Leni McCormick, Hazel Willis and Matilda Valencia-Shepherd all swimming multiple races on the day. The regionals are always a big step-up as our students face off against young swimmers from other schools, some of whom look like they could be preparing for an Olympics! But none were deterred and each had a wonderful day challenging themselves and cheering on their mates - each came away talking excitedly about how they will prepare for next year! But it was Oliver Fernly (our sole senior high school representative) who really showed he can mix it with the top swimmers in the region. Oliver finished the meet with two top ten finishes in an extremely competitive age division. Well-done to Oliver who really isn’t far off representing our region at the state championships - a great goal for next year.
And so the swimming carnival season concludes and we head into the school cross-country events, which again offer opportunities for our students to take their skills and fitness to the NCIS regionals course later this year - let the training begin!
Dallas Hewett
Sport Cooridinator