Raising the roof on the swimming pool!

On Thursday afternoon, pupils from King’s St Alban’s U10 and U11 swimming teams were delighted to welcome their counterparts from King’s Hawford and Abberley Hall to a swimming gala. Although such galas took place throughout last academic year, this was the first time we were able to welcome spectators back to the poolside and it was wonderful! Galas always have a great atmosphere but having parents, grandparents and siblings back in the pool hall just rounds it off perfectly.

The children from all three schools should be extremely proud of their performances. It was a pleasure to watch those ‘old hands’ from Year 5 and Year 6 who have competed numerous times before support those who have never competed for their school. With the support of their teachers and friends, the ‘newbies’ quickly overcame their nerves and demonstrated real strength and determination.

The afternoon consisted of more than twenty different races, both individual and team events. Both boys and girls gave their all as they swam lengths of breaststroke, front-crawl, backstroke and butterfly. The skill and determination was clearly evident across all of the teams; the cheering and support from the crowd of parents also spurred them on to achieve some fantastic results. At half-time it was neck and neck between Abberley Hall and King’s St Alban’s A team; however, King’s St Alban’s just pipped Abberley Hall to the post by the end to win the gala: congratulations to all those who competed.

Commenting on the gala, one parent said, “It was an absolute delight to see all of the pupils swimming to such a high standard and, more importantly, clearly enjoying it at the same time. Just brilliant.” Mrs Woodger, King’s St Alban’s swimming teacher added that it was “fantastic to see smiling, happy faces at the end.”