Sports Report. Swimming

Transcription

1 2 7 t h M a r c h V o l u m e 1 4, I s s u e 2 Sports Report Swimming A small team of four girls Stephanie Andrews, Phoebe Brockington, Louisa Long and Emma Bradshaw, together with Pam Murray and Alex Evans took an early morning rush hour train to the Olympic Pool at Stratford to compete in the Bath and Otter, National Schools Relays. With 70 girls schools competing, comprising mainly of 6th form competitors, the aim was to reach at least one final, having narrowly missed out last year. With the girls looking particularly sharp in the water during the week, the warm up went well with the girls in a confident mood. The first event, the freestyle relay, saw the girls swim very fast times to just nab the 10th place taking them in to the main final in a time of a 2.5 second improvement on last year. Our Director of Sport, Richard Singfield arrived just as they were about to swim the final, where they equalled their heat time but moved to up to 9th place. The medley relay heats produced even more amazing swims. With an aim time of 2.10 secs the girls swam , to nab 8th place in the final, with less than a second separating 4th to 9th position. The final ran like a dream. Phoebe Brockington led off on the backstroke with a superb start and a personal best time. She was followed by Stephanie Andrews who looked extremely strong on the breaststroke leg, again in a personal best time. The youngest member of the team, 14 year old Emma Bradshaw, whose butterfly has rapidly improved over the last few weeks, swam the race of her life, again in a big personal best. The final leg saw Louisa Long keep her cool and race in a line with some very fast girls. Her superb finish gave Kings the 4th place final position by a hair! The time of an improvement of seven seconds on the previous year - was just hundredths of a second faster that the 5th and 6th place, and only a few tenths ahead of 7th and 8th positions. Given that our girls team is very young, and against older and very experienced national swimmers, the future is looking very bright for them. It should be noted that although our boys team (which sadly could not compete this year) qualify for the small schools competition, the girls have to swim in the main event as we are just seven pupils over the school role numbers to compete in the small schools category. And, interestingly their time was streaks ahead of the gold medal winners in both the medley and freestyle teams in the small schools category! The King s party returned home on the train in jubilant mood. All girls have either open or county events over the next few weekends and will be greatly encouraged by their magnificent performance. The girls showed real strength of character and great maturity for such a young team. (video footage from the event courtesy of Mr Long)

2 Swimming Our small but triumphant unbeaten girls teams wiped the board of every tournament and inter school result this term, winning all under 14, under 16 and senior matches a feat very rarely achieved in any sport. Our senior boys team of Ed Chan, Ben Belsten, Charles Lin, Chris Sit and Kevin de Jong swam well to win our home tournament. Stephanie Andrews, Louisa Long, Phoebe Brockington and Emma Bradshaw have created 8 short course and 34 long course swimming records this term an amazing result. Kent county ASA championships results are now complete. Stephanie Andrews made many final places, but excelled in the 16 years 50m breaststroke, gaining 1st place gold. In the Atlantis long course meet last weekend, her time qualified her for the senior nationals and European and World junior trials. Phoebe Brockington also gained many final placings in the county championships. Sussex county championships have started and already Louisa Long has gained bronze medals in butterfly. Emma Bradshaw competes in her Middlesex county championships during the Easter holiday period. The following have represented the school in swimming events this term: Boys: Edward Chan, Daniel Koo, Michael Hebel, Chris Sit, Derek Lee, Edouard de Vitry, Dylan Turner, Edward Gaut, James Senabulya, Jeffrey Kahol de Jong, Kevin Kahol de Jong, Benjamin Belsten, Matthew Jenkins, Benjamin Shepherd-Barron, Charles Lin, Tom Fish Girls: Stephanie Andrews, Louisa Long, Phoebe Brockington, Emma Bradshaw, Chloe Liu, Freya Kennedy Harper, Florence Brealy, Abigail Brooke, Chloe Sumner, Caitlin Hunt, Annabelle Walker, Rosie Broujeni, Sophie Stonier, Isabel Davis,

3 Fencing The Lent Term saw the club with full numbers with over fifty percent for the first time being girls and a waiting list for places. The first event of this term, was the British U20 Ranking Event in London. Removes Hjalmar Johansson and George Yeh performed extremely well finishing 28th and 29th, with shells Constantin d Orleans, Roman Sokolov, Ethan Snee and Felix Malet all making it into the top 64 of the event. Felix defeated the eventual winner a GB International from Oxford University in the group stages. In the Women s event Douce De Boisgelin finished a very creditable 23rd. In February, The South East Epee Championships was hosted by the school at the Recreation Centre, attracting record numbers. Those competing including several GB Internationals, among them OKS and also a former double Olympian and World Veteran s Champion, Ralph Johnson, who apparently in the 1970s used to train with pupils at King s! The event was won by former King s Recreation Centre Fencer and GB U23 International Nick Beaumont, with 3rd place going to OKS James Odgers. In the Women s event which was run entirely by current 6b Antonia Marsden acting as tournament director, current King s pupil, Douce De Boisgelin finished 3rd, narrowly missing out on the final against a very experienced former England International. In Mid February, the club travelled to Millfield School, Somerset for the British Schools Teams Championships. The U15 Boys A team consisting of Roman Sokolov, Jason Kam and George Yeh finished 3rd, narrowly missing out on the final to Whitgift. The under 15B s Constantin, Ethan and Felix with still another year left in this age group narrowly lost to Millfield A. The U18 Boys A Team South African International Liam Brazier, Hjalmar Johansson and Daniel Smythe, finished 3rd. In the Semi-Final, the team narrowly lost to Whitgift in the a match which saw all three King s fencers defeating the Whiftgift captain and 13th European U17 ranked fencer. The girls U18 Team consisting of Douce De Boisgelin, Elissa Vinh and Tiffany Zhang faced an equally tough test with teams from Millfield and Plymouth consisting entirely of experienced internationals. A very close semi final very nearly saw King s make the final, but it was not to be with the girls finishing in 3rd place. In March, the school hosted the British Youth Championships Qualifiers at Medway Sports Park in Gillingham. With very much a team effort, the whole club and all event equipment was transported 50 miles north for what was the biggest qualifying event in the country this year. The event provided significant success for the school with Hjalmar winning the U16 boy s event, defeating a GB U17 and England International in the final, with Jason Kam also qualifying for the finals in 5th place. In the U14 age group Constantin and Ethan finished 3rd = and qualified for the finals. In the U18 Girl s event, Douce De Boisgelin came 2nd, Maria Kidyamkina 3rd= with Jenny Zhang all of whom qualified for the finals. The annual pilgrimage to Crystal Palace for the 127th Public Schools Championships, following some outstanding individual performances, saw the school return for the first time since 2010 to 3rd place nationally in the points standings, against over 50 others schools in Boys Epee events. The school has only once been ranked higher, in 2007 finishing 2nd. In the Mount Hayes (U15 Boys Epee) from an entry of over 100, Ethan finished 8th, in an event which saw 5 King s boys in the top 20 with Roman, Jason, Constantin and Felix Malet finishing 14th, 15th, 19th and 20th respectively. In the Boys Junior Epee from an entry of 134, Hjalmar finished 3rd= in the semi finals, going into a 9-3 lead against GB U17 Team member and European U17 11th ranked fencer from Plymouth College before eventually being defeated Liam finished 23rd. In the girls Junior Epee, Elissa Vinh finished 17th, with Tiffany and Jenny Zhang also making the top 32 of the event. In the girls Senior Event, Douce De Boisgelin, finished 3rd in an event where everyone in the top 8 had fenced internationally, with Maria Kidyamkina finishing 19th in what has been her first ever term fencing.

4 Volume 14, Issue 2 Netball The Second half of the season has seen some successful wins against tough opposition. The 3rd VII team had a fantastic win against Sevenoaks and the U14A team drew The King's 1st team yet again performed well at the John Kelsall Tournament but unfortunately missed out on the semi-final by one goal. The first match back after half term was against Sevenoaks and although we lost the game the girls fought hard in the second half and won the final 2 quarters. Sadly Sevenoaks had amassed a large lead in the first half and we couldn't quite close the gap. The next few games were exactly the same, our second half was always our strongest. Despite being down by quite a few goals going into the latter stages of the game the girls never gave up and continued to push themselves to the very end. They have shown great team spirit, determination and resilience throughout and have played, exciting netball. The 2nd VII have had a solid second half of the season winning all but one match. They have been focused throughout training and fully committed in matches. A particular highlight was a win against Haileybury College and against Lingfield School. The 3rd VII started the season well with a fantastic win over Canterbury Christ Church University They have managed to raise their game for each match adjusting to their opposition. The 4th VII, made up mostly of beginners, had a slow start to their season as they got to grips with the techniques and rules of this game. After a few losses, momentum and determination began to build and the 4ths started a late winning streak with a comfortable away win at Haileybury. Aided by the versatile Audrey Chew (who moved from GD to GA), and the reliable and talented pairing of Sophie Brown and Cat Appleton, the girls went on to achieve a convincing win against local rivals Sir Roger Manwood s 2nd team and came out victorious in a closely fought battle win Sutton Valence s 3rd VII. The U15A team had a successful second half of the season. Although the results did not always work out in our favour, they do not reflect just how hard the girls worked and how much they have improved. The highlight was the John Kelsall tournament where the girls narrowly lost in the semi-final. Their approach to the whole day was impeccable and they played the best netball we have seen all season. The U15B team were undefeated in the first half of the season, winning each match convincingly. Sevenoaks proved a tough opposition breaking their winning streak, but the team came back with even more determination and won the remaining matches. The U15C team have improved their movement on court and have shown the ability to create accurate and hard passes throughout. The defence have worked tirelessly on their positioning and back line passes, while the attack have been focusing on dodging techniques and movement around the D. The team have played some tough matches but their indestructible team morale and resilience shone through, no matter what the score. The U14A team have had a fantastic unbeaten season. The team have bonded brilliantly and have a wonderful drive and enthusiasm to do their absolute best. A pivotal game this season was against Sevenoaks, the standard of play was nothing short of excellent from the King's team. They all have an exciting future ahead of them. The U14B team have played netball to a high standard all season. They have proven to have good basic skills and have worked on their match play. A fantastic win against Haileybury College 25-2 must be mentioned. The U14C team have been enthusiastic and dedicated netball players. They have shown fantastic progress throughout the season finishing the season on a high with a win against Sutton valence

5 Lacrosse In their last fixture before the National Lacrosse Tournament, the 1st Lacrosse team played against Walthamstow Hall away. Initially, the team started slowly, letting a few goals in during the first half. However, in the second half, the defence solidified under the leadership of Ollie Lark and Helena Weatherseed, giving the attacks a chance to score. Remove Annabel Biloune scored two goals, which led King s to draw the third quarter. Goal keeper, Bella Whitney, saved over 10 goals on the day, making it difficult for Walthamstow Hall to score. However, the deficit created in the first half was too great for King s to overcome, and Walthamstow Hall finished with the victory. Having finished their last match on a positive note, the girls were ready and raring to go for the two day National Schools Tournament at Surrey Sports Park. King s were placed in a very tough draw with the likes of Berkhamsted and Wycombe Abbey, both previous winners of the prestigious event. Although King s lost all their matches in the group stages, they showed a huge level of skill and determination and had a very close and tense match against Loretto School, losing 3-2. Day 2 of the tournament saw King s in Pool A of Division 3. Unfortunately, the first match of the day did not go to plan and King s lost to Downe House s C team. However, in true King s style, the girls picked themselves up for their crunch match against Denstone College. Laura Clarke scored 3 impressive goals in quick succession and with Rosie Woods also scoring, it gave King s a 4-1 victory. After an extremely long break, King s were drawn against Coloma Convent Girls School in the Quarter Finals. Unable to continue with the momentum they had built from their previous match, King s struggled to get into the game and show their full potential. They ended up losing to Coloma 3-1 which meant being knocked out of the tournament. Although the result didn t go the way King s wanted, the girls showed a huge amount of character and team spirit. On Wednesday 15th March the 1st Lacrosse Team faced Christchurch University for their penultimate match on the season. The girls, happy finally to be playing at home, started the match full of energy and enthusiasm. Captain Ollie Lark scored the first goal of many, with 8 other girls getting their names on the scorecard. Molly Buchanan, Laura Clark and Rosie Woods all managed a hat trick and the defence, led by goal keeper Bella Whitney, managed to keep a clean sheet in the first half and only let in 2 goals in total. Even though King s were in control throughout the match, they played with good skill and respect for their opposition until the final whistle. Three days later, King s faced Kent University, which for the majority of the team was their last match for the school. The girls started the match firing on all cylinders and quickly went 2-0 up in the first quarter, with goals from attackers Molly Buchanan and Rosie Woods. Kent University was obviously shaken and came back onto the pitch determined to make up the score difference. They scored 3 goals before half time which set up the second half to be a nail biter! Both teams were not only defending solidly but were also moving the ball around well in attack. Rosie Woods managed to get another goal in the third quarter but, unfortunately, Kent managed to get 2 in the back of the net, putting them ahead by 2 goals. The fourth and very tense final quarter saw some very impressive lacrosse from both teams. The ball was moving from end to end with exciting moments in attack for both teams. A special mention must go to goal keeper, Bella Whitney, who played out of her skin and put her body on the line to save a number of very good shots from the Kent team. With no goals from either team in the final quarter the final score was 5-3 to Kent University. Although not the result the girls wanted, they all played at their peak and should be proud of their performance. What a wonderful and exciting game to end the season with! The Kings U15 team have had a fantastic season, their hard work and fantastic attitude should be commended. A tough game against Worth saw King s go 3-0 up in the first half, thanks to a hat trick by Annabel Biloune. A further 2 goals by midfielder Sophia Smith running from defence to attack secured King s a 5-3 win. Ava Samoilys nicely set up the attacking settle from behind the goal with the help of Skye Rae-Smith, and Katya Yurova and Cissy Williamson set up a solid defence, which was dictated by Lily Weir from the goal, who make some amazing saves to stop the score being much closer. The U15 Nationals Squad had a tough draw against the likes of Benenden and Guildford High. However, the girls put on an excellent display of the lacrosse King s had to offer, despite being a predominantly Shell team. The likes of Vice Captain, Millie Lark, controlled the King s defence with strong support from Valerie Chong and Arwen Withey-Harrison. Rima Shahab Kayali put in a strong performance in the midfield. Captain, Sophia Smith, had a consistently high performance in all of the games and ran the length of the pitch to secure a goal for King s against Haberdashers Monmouth. The final, and highly competitive, game of the day saw Yasmin Howe break down the North London Collegiate defence to secure King s a 1-0 win. Overall, the result for Nationals was not the one King s deserved from their work rate, and excellent team work. However, I am confident this group of girls will excel at next years Nationals with another season of lacrosse experience and skill under their belt.

6 Football The second half of term has seen a number of brilliant team and individual performances for King's football. Brian Okorocha scored four goals for the 2nd XI in the 5-3 win over Worth School. The U16A produced an amazing team effort to have a much deserved 3-2 win over Epsom College in their final game of the season. The U14As had a fantastic season and took the fight for the top spot in the SKIL league right to the final match where they came second to Brighton College. Furthermore, their season also included Hans So being offered a trial at Charlton off the back of a strong individual performance against a very good Westminster side. The King's football season finished in spectacular fashion with four wins out of four against St Dunstan's and hosting successful Junior and Senior House football competitions. The Junior won by Tradescant and the Senior by The Grange following a dramatic penalty shootout! Rugby 7s The shells, colts and senior sevens rugby teams competed in the annual Rosslyn Park 7 a side competition, in some very challenging weather conditions. The group stages proved extremely competitive across all of the age groups and the teams have taken away lots of invaluable experience. There were some fantastic matches, excellent team efforts and brilliant individual breaks, however we were unable to progress to the finals of the competitions. Hockey The second half of the Lent Term has involved block fixtures against St Edmund s, Sutton Valence, Simon Langton, Eltham College, Haileybury and Ashford. The 1st XI have had a successful second half of the season, winning four of these matches and netting a staggering 29 goals in just these six games, much-helped by Ed Graham s bullet of a drag flick! In the final match of the season against Kent Champions, Ashford School, the 1st XI were looking comfortable being 3-0 up at half time but they had to contend with a second half come back from Ashford and did well to cling on to a 5-4 win to finish off the season. The highlight for the 2nd XI was their well-deserved 2-1 win over Haileybury where the heart and passion of the King s team were obvious and instrumental in bringing home the victory. The U15A XI have progressed superbly over the course of the season. They have been unlucky with narrow losses against Haileybury and Sutton Valence, but did superbly to win against Kent College and Eltham College. With the boost of several U14A players, they had a very successful Peter Firminger tournament where they topped their group in the pool rounds but lost in the quarter-finals against a very strong St Lawrence side who were the eventual winners. The recent highlight for the U14A XI has been their comeback against Eltham College. After being 1-0 down at half time, the team showed great resilience to come back and win 2-1. The U14B team have had some tough opposition, having to play against U15B teams and U14A teams due to oppositions being unable to field an U14B team. Despite most boys not having played hockey before, the U14Bs were able to show great character to draw both of these matches, and are much-improved and an unrecognisable team from the start of the season.

7 Rowing Since half term things got busy for KSCBC. Freddie Allinson had an excellent result at the GB trials and gained an invite to the GB Spring Assessments over the Easter holiday. The club raced at Maidstone Head after Burway got cancelled with great success. The Senior Quad was the fastest boat on the day, the girls squad won junior coxed fours, coxed quads, double and single. The Remove squad also came home with a win in both the coxed Four and the Quad. After this local event it was the girls off to London to race the Women's Head of the River from Chiswick to Putney with entries from all over Europe and the top club, university and junior crews. Coxed by Sacha Tanna, Jen Hofmann, Emily Williamson, Minya Kearney, Sarah Beevers, Ellie Cluely, Sage Battle, Sophie Main and Cici Zhao raced well moving up from their start position of 230 finishing 164th, just ahead of their training partners from the University of Kent. The weekend after, further preparation for the Schools Head at the Kingston Head of the River took place for the Senior Boys Quad and the Removes, both coming back with very good performances. The Remove boys Eight came in 3rd in front of all 5 Eton boats, whilst the Quad also came in 3rd. The Remove Eight also celebrated gaining selection to represent the South East at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta in the J16 Eight event. At the Schools Head we had a Senior Boys Quad, a Girls Eight and the Removes Eight racing. Unfortunately as crews were marshalling the course got shortened due to the weather so it ended up being a 5 to 6 minute race. The Removes Eight came in 8th in the tough conditions, the Quad came in 14th and the girls 9th. Difficult to read too much into these results due to the nature of what ended up happening. The day after at Dorney Lake the Removes joined by 4 further boys raced in a quad and an Octo for fun and experience. The senior quad raced again coming 12th, a good result showing improvement and a Shells Octo raced coming a credible 37th out of 61. We also hosted some young Italians who raced well. Over the Easter holiday a group of 30 pupils will travel to Italy to race at Lake Monate and train for a week at Lake Orta.

8 Squash Squash has had a bodacious term and rounded off a successful season in style with a trip up to the Canary Wharf Classic Pro Tournament in London. Highlights have been the Girls 1st V making it through to the last 16 of the National Schools Competition. The Boys 1st V have given Tonbridge, Westminster, Dulwich and Sevenoaks all one time capsizing blows in regular school fixtures. They played in the First Division of the prestigious Roehampton Public Schools Invitation tournament, finishing 6th and unfortunately were relegated, but managed to hold their own in some elevated company. Laura Patterson and Marcus Wong have both been good captains of squash, and Laura Patterson has been fantastic at first string. The Jesters fixture was as ever a fittingly convivial affair. Cross Country The Lent term has seen the King s School Cross Country team not only participate in local Kent and South East England events but also further afield. The highlight of the term was the chance for students to run the National Cross Country Championships in Wollaton Park. Students included: Allegra Hinds, James Crawley, Matt Stonier, Henry Rutman, Zofia Olszowska, Clara Geldard, Hector O Neill, Charlie McMenemy. There were some notable performances, particularly from Matt Stonier (Remove) who finished in an awe-inspiring 21st position overall, which is a massive improvement on his 146 place last year! Allegra Hinds (Shell) finished in the middle of the pack (in 246th position) against a very tough field. Earlier in the term fixtures included the Kent School s Cross Country Championships at Brands Hatch. Both Allegra Hinds and Matt Stonier managed to gain qualification to represent Kent at Loughborough in this event, both putting in sterling performances to finish towards the top of the field. At the end of January we took the delightful journey to Parliament Hills at Hampstead Heath to take part in the Southern Regional Cross Country Championships. A real highlight in the XC calendar for Southern clubs across England. The following students took part in this event: Henry Rutman, Edward Shapcott, Flora Clark, Charlie McMenemy, Hector O'Neill, Allegra Hinds, Matt Stonier, Clara Geldard and Zofia Olszowska Another fantastic set of performances from the students in what is always tough competition. The students proved to be a real credit to the school and to themselves. Well done to all involved.

9 Scholars and Excellence Programme News CONGRATULATIONs to the following athletes who were selected to take part in the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) which is an exciting pilot scheme with Sport England and Christchurch University. Charlie Griffiths Hockey Victoria Glaister Hockey Sophia Smith Hockey Morgause Lomas Hockey Matt Stonier Cross Country/Hockey Phoebe Brockington Swimming Louisa Long Swimming Jen Hofmann Rowing Freddie Allinson Rowing Wills Edgar Rowing Not available due to current external commitments: Charlie Watson Millie Knight Yasmin Howe Stephanie Andrews Rugby - Saracens training squad Skiing - Competing in Korea Tennis - Maidstone Tennis Academy Swimming commitments This exciting new national project will enable 10 talented pupils at four schools based in Kent to receive high quality sport science support. Sport scientists from SportsLab within the Section of Sport & Exercise Sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University will deliver the project in schools. This project is funded by TASS, which is a Sport England funded partnership between talented athletes, education institutions and national governing bodies of sport. TASS works to bring the best out of the country s most exciting young talent. Swimming: 5th of March Kent Relays: Stephanie Andrews raced extremely well despite a very full schedule - she took part in 5 events, one of which was HDW, and made finals in the other 4, meaning she had 9 races in total. Her best times were 34:00 in the 50 breast, and 28:77 in the last event, the mixed open 4 x 50 free. She came away with one silver and one bronze, which given the strength of the competition, was a good result. Riding - British Eventing: Jess Venton competed in the British Eventing event at Tweseldown. The dressage was very hard in mud and rain, but Jess only had one down in the show jumping and a lovely clear cross country. Well done Jess.

10 Body Language workshop: All of the Shells in the Excellence Programme were fully engaged during a workshop lead by Will Jefferson from Footdown. He is a performance catalyst and he works through a variety of different areas which will help our young athletes accelerate their performance both on and off the field. Body language was the focus for the session and the athletes certainly came away with some valuable information which they will be able to start implementing in the summer term fixtures. Excellence Programme The TASS athletes were treated to a nutrition workshop lead by World Record holder - Phil Anthony. Phil holds the record for the fastest 100km on a treadmill which he completed in 6hours, 40mins and 35 secs. He is a lecturer at Christ Church University and certainly helped encourage our young athletes to consider what fuel is best for the body to help you perform at your best. A special mention must go to all of the junior pupils (Shell and Removes) involved in the Excellence Programme. This group of about 30 athletes has worked exceptionally hard this term and their dedication to session and work ethic has been phenomenal to see. Shooting This season has been extremely busy for our shooting team with the winter season starting back in October and targets being shot for both individual and team competitions. This year we have 5 entries in the Kent Individual leagues and our A team is shooting in division 6 of the British schools league. In the individual competitions David Bickersteth is leading division 1 of the Kent Junior league with Elissa Vinh 3rd, Ed Connor is 5th in division 2 and Dom Kwan is 2nd in Division 3 with Sonya Tarkanova in 3rd place. In the team competition, Kings A came 1st in the British Schools league, with Cici Zhao leading the individual averages. In addition to the club competitions Charlie Jessel was also selected to shoot for the Kent County Junior squad, and for the Kent Carey Salver and Home Counties teams. Charlie shot a 286 ex 300 and Kent, with a team score of 1447, won the Carey Salver by 8 points from Surrey. We would like to congratulate the Team Captain, Charlie Jessel for an outstanding years shooting. Not only did he shoot for the Kent County squads and the Home Counties squad but he was also selected to shoot for the BSSRA England B squad for the 2017 Spring International match. This is the 2nd year Charlie has shot for the England team, and this year he shot an estimated score of 195 out of 200 which should place him approximately 5th in the Country. To round off a fantastic season, Charlie also shot his first maximum 100 in a competition, which is a feat only achieved by two other pupils at King s since the year 2000.