9 t h N o v e mb e r 2 0 1 7 V o l u m e 1 6, I s s u e 1 Sports Report Hockey The 2017 season started in the summer holidays when a squad of 26 girls formed two hockey teams which toured South Africa, visiting both Durban and Johannesburg. Winning more games than were lost and inspired by getting the opportunity to watch the World League international hockey tournament in Johannesburg and meeting some of their GB Olympic gold medal winning heroes, the girls couldn t wait to get the hockey season underway. The autumn term kicked off with the hosting of the annual Birley s 1st XI Tournament where we welcomed Framlingham College, Oundle School and Queenswood School. King s 1st XI put in some good performances but were unlucky to lose on penalty strokes in the semi-final, but then did well to beat Oundle in the 3rd/4th Playoff match to finish in 3rd place. It s not been the easiest first half term with tough block fixtures against Haileybury, Eastbourne and Sevenoaks, as well as the U18 and U16 County Tournaments. Several midweek fixtures have also been played against local opposition including Kent College, Ashford School and Sir Roger Manwood s School. The U14C are doing tremendously well and are going into half term undefeated which shows the strength and depth of hockey in the U14 year group. The other undefeated team at the school is the U16 XI who are the current big success story at King s. After being crowned U16 champions last year, King's were hoping to repeat this success and make it through to Regionals for a second year running. They certainly didn t disappoint. The talented combination of Fifths and Removes were unstoppable in the Pool Stages where they netted a total of 13 goals across the three 20 minute pool matches to finish top of the pool. A comfortable quarterfinal 4-0 win over Kent College Pembury put King's through to the semi-final against Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School. It was a nervy start from King's but they found their feet quickly and won convincingly 3-0 to put them into the final against Sevenoaks and secure a spot at Regionals. It was an entertaining and end-to-end final but King s came out the winners 1-0 and were crowned U16 County Champions for the second year running! The team showed great composure, discipline and tactical understanding throughout the day. Not to concede a single goal all day, while scoring 21 at the other end shows the sheer strength of this team and should stand them in good stead for Regionals after half term. In the Inter House hockey tournament, Kingsdown won the Junior competition whilst the Day House combination of Carlyon, Mitchinson s and Marlowe won the Senior competition.
Rowing The term kicked off with a great Boat Club Dinner, with Phelan Hill as Guest Speaker, celebrating a good year for the pupils last year with Freddie Allinson s GB success the icing on the cake. The first racing though wasn t until October but it proved to be a very good start to the Boat Club's racing. On October 14th, a young Eight of Fifths with Club Captain Wills Edgar (6a) raced in Le DefiSeine, an 8k race along the Seine through Rouen, with a 180 degree turn half way. It was a row where it took time to develop a platform but there was a very evident work ethic and it was a very good experience for the boys racing on foreign waters. http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/normandie/emissions/jt-1920-haute-normandie on 15th Oct (8min 48 in) local news report On Sunday 15th October at the Medway Head a Removes Eight (Child-Villers, Smith, Crawley, Nielson, Lazarevic, Wu, Hinnells, Gould and Carter coxing) raced for their first time coming in 2nd in IM3 eights, so racing against adults...a very good early show of potential. A girls quad raced well just missing out on being the fastest women's crew to a women's Eight from Lea Rowing Club. A boys quad also had a good row over the 5k course. Great to see some parents supporting the pupils as well.
Rugby After a two week and eight match successful tour of Hong Kong and Japan, the senior squad was in a fantastic position to start the season. Having looked very impressive in our pre-season fixture against Kent College we embarked on a challenging first block against last year s Natwest champions trophy finalists Felsted. This was always going to be a difficult fixture and although we lost both at 1st and 2nd XV, we were encouraged by our attacking play and depth within the squad. This pattern has continued throughout the first half of the season with us looking threatening in attack and, although improving, fragile in defence. After a very impressive win over Eastbourne across the senior block and two very close fixtures against Reeds and Hurst, we look forward to the next half of the season with great anticipation and excitement to take on the challenges of Haileybury and Tonbridge. It has been particularly encouraging to be able to field three competitive senior teams this season and the positive attitudes displayed throughout must be cherished and celebrated. Colts With the numbers and passion growing, the colts have come on leaps and bounds over the last six weeks. Under the guidance of Rob Edgar they have managed to put up some strong performances against every team they have faced, managing to win at Duke of Yorks this year. Rugby is certainly alive in the 5th form and we are looking forward to seeing how we progress over the next half term. Junior Colts With three competitive teams, the junior colts is certainly rich in talent and ability. It has been great to see the resilience of this group of players after difficult matches against the might of Eastbourne, Reeds and Hurst who are particularly strong in this age group. All of the junior colts have worked hard in training to address their defence and are looking particularly strong moving into the next half term. Having beaten King s Rochester in the last week of term, the A team are due to play Tonbridge in the semi finals of the Kent Cup which will provide an excellent spectacle the second weekend back. U14s The junior end of the club is also very lucky to have high numbers and have successfully fielded three competitive teams for every fixture. The As have only lost one match at the start of the season against Duke of York s and have since beaten them in a cup fixture. The squads development over the last six weeks has been astounding and we are very excited to see how they progress through the remainder of county cup and challenging fixtures that will soon be upon us. With a fantastic team of coaches and brilliant attitude from the players, there is lots of movement and competition for places through all of the teams. The junior end of the club must be commended on their 12 wins from 16 matches so far, making them the most successful age group for some years.
Swimming More School Records Tumble Shortly after the end of term, Louisa Long competed in her home club championships, at Beacon Swimming Club in Sussex. Within a full programme of swimming, Louisa broke 3 Open school records in the 200m Butterfly (2:45.82), 200m Freestyle (2:15.98) and the 400m Freestyle (4:58.25). Some impressive swims - well done Louisa. British National Championships After a successful last season, Stephanie Andrews once again travelled to Sheffield to compete in the 50m Breaststroke at the British Summer Championships., finishing a respectable 13th in the country in a very strong age group. House Swimming Challenge Round 1 The second week of term saw the start of the House Swimming Challenge, an open event with the aim of scoring as many points as possible for swimmers respective houses. 30 swimmers recorded swims in the 50m events this year, with 17 of their swims qualifying for the East Invicta Championships. As usual, Broughton dominated the girls event, but were given some close competition by The Grange, who took the boys event. Tradescant were a new entry to the leader board this year with their single swimmer. Some stunning performances from new 6b Herman Lau saw them finish in a very respectable 2nd in the boys event. Top swimmers from this round were Herman Lau and Louisa Long, with Dan Koo and Charles Lin following in the boys event and Phoebe Brockington and Stephanie Andrews for the girls. Kent Schools Relay Championships Following the House Swimming Challenge, two relay teams competed at the Kent Schools Relay Championships at Medway Park, Gillingham. The Senior Girls team of Stephanie Andrews, Phoebe Brockington, Freya Kennedy Harper and Louisa Long, achieved 4th place in their Freestyle relay in a time of 2:02.03. The Senior Boys team of Joe Kennedy, Dan Koo, Herman Lau and Chris Sit went next, with a 2nd place in their Freestyle event with a time of 1:55.48. Next were the Medley relays, with the girls achieving 2nd place in a time of 2:12.70 and the boys in 3rd place with a time of 2:12.51. Our Junior King s girls also had a good outing, with 11th and 7th in their Freestyle and Medley relays respectively.
East Invicta Championships Swimming The exeat weekend signalled the start of the East Invicta Championships, an event between the 12 East Kent clubs, held at Kingsmead Leisure Centre. On the first day of the championships, Stephanie Andrews (BR), Stephanie s younger sister Lucy, Phoebe Brockington (HH) and Annabel Walker (KD) competed in a total of 7 events. The Girls 50m Freestyle was first, with all 4 girls competing. Stephanie, Lucy and Phoebe all qualified for the final, with Lucy finishing 2nd in her age group and King s taking two thirds of the 15/ over podium, Stephanie in 1st place (with a new school record of 28.15) and Phoebe in 3rd. In the same session, Stephanie, Phoebe and Lucy took on the 200m IM with Lucy in 5th, Stephanie in 2nd and Phoebe in 5th in their respective age groups. On the second weekend, the girls were joined by the boys for the rest of the events. Notable performances came from Stephanie Andrews, with 2nd place in the 200m Breaststroke and Emma Bradshaw, taking 6th in the final of the 100m butterfly for her age group. Emma also had success in the 50m Butterfly, coming 5th in her final. Herman Lau (TR) finished a respectable 11th in his age group for the 100m Butterfly and Stephanie Andrews won the 100m Breaststroke title by a considerable margin. Lucy Andrews took a bronze medal in the 200m Backstroke, which was shortly followed by a silver in the 100m Freestyle. This event also featured Benedita Garcia Ribeiro Cowling (HH) in 11th and Emma Bradshaw in 10th in their age groups. Herman Lau made the final for the Boys 15/over 50m Butterfly, finishing 4th. The final day was a busy one, with 8 swimmers competing in 4 different events. Lucy Andrews started off with a 1st place finish in her 100m Backstroke, shortly followed by Emma Bradshaw taking 11th in her age group. Stephanie Andrews then took the silver medal in the 100m Individual Medley. In the 50m Breaststroke, both Andrews sisters made the finals, with Lucy in 6th place and Stephanie taking 2nd in a very close race. The final event of the day was the Boys 50m Freestyle, with 5 King s swimmers taking part. Our boys put in some strong performances in their age groups with James Senabulya (MR) in 11th, Charles Lin (SH) in 14th, Joe Kennedy (GR) in 18th, Bernard Chan (MO) in 20th and Herman Lau making another final, finishing in 6th place. A fantastic weekend of swimming, well done to all! Fencing At the Manchester BRC Epee, Roman Sokolov, Liam Brazier and George Yeh started the term very promisingly with 30th place in the U17 British Ranking Qualifier in Manchester. The event was held in currently the biggest Fencing hall (23 full sized pistes), newly opened last year in Oldham, Manchester. Constantin d Orleans came within one point of defeating a regular GB and England International and George Yeh finished a very creditable 48th. With another year left at this age group, these are promising results. Liam Brazier, following a string of impressive results with South Africa, was accepted on to the Sporting Excellence Award Programme (formerly known as AASE). At the RC U20 London Women s event, Douce De Boisgelin finished 20th in the U20 Ranking Event in London. And Finally, at the Miller Hallett Adult Men s Open, although still only 14, Roman Sokolov (MO) finished 89th, defeating the 18 year old Scottish, GB youth International and the silver medal winner at the Bang & Olufsen event hosted by the school last year. Liam Brazier finished 91st, facing amongst others a GB Olympian from the 1980 Moscow Olympics! A great days fencing and great experience for both fencers.
Golf The golf team have enjoyed a reasonable successful first half of term, playing a variety of challenging courses. Highlights have included the trip to Kings Acre, just south of Edinburgh, for the Scottish Schools Open, where Grace Francis won the girls nett competition. Closely fought victories in friendly matches against Tonbridge and Merchiston were also recorded. Eleven pupils have represented the team, ranging from 6a to Remove. They have gained invaluable experience of links golf, playing matches at Royal St George s (twice), Royal Cinque Ports and Littlestone. Alasdair Murray-Tacon and, when fit, Zach Barker have led the way, with both playing off a handicap of 5. Captain Olly Moore has shot well below his handicap on several occasions, and has a particular affinity for Royal Ashdown Forest, which seems to bring the very best out of him; he shot 7 below his handicap in the Smarden Bell. The younger members of the team have been getting their handicaps down in weekend competitions at Canterbury Golf Club, and the number of Remove golfers is particularly encouraging for the future. Christy Francis, Charlie Cook and Grace Francis have been awarded places on the scholarship programme at Canterbury Golf Club. Sailing House sailing was a huge success, 30 students representing 10 houses was the biggest turn out for a long time. The sun was shining, the breeze was good and the racing incredibly close. Across the 5 races we had 4 different race winners, 3 different houses were leading the championship at various points with a great mix of boys, girls, older and younger students. Galpin s eventually battled through to retain the trophy, captained by Ben Helme, Carlyon in 2 nd, School House in 3 rd. Harvey held off a last minute fight back from Walpole to claim the girls house cup, with David Bickerseth (TR) and Eoin Pickstone (SH) taking home the honors of best helm and best junior helm respectively. The school has already competed in several regattas this term. Herne Bay Memorial: With King s joining the Herne Bay Sailing Club to enhance the sailing program on offer at the school, we were invited to take part in the annual memorial day regatta. The memorial day is a way of remembering and appreciating all those who have helped build and support the club, who are no longer with us. Gus Cox took the position of top King s pupil, but the whole team did well in very difficult conditions, with little wind and lots of tide. KSSA Regatta: The Kent Schools Sailing Association regatta took place at Downs Sailing Club. King s entered 12 sailors in a mix of 2 person and single handed boats. With over 80 sailors competing, it was a great event. Again with light winds and a strong tide, conditions were difficult, but all the sailors battled on and competed well with Alex Jefferies (Walpole) even coming away with a prize! This Oct ober half term, the sailing club is returning to the London 2012 Olympic venue in Weymouth for an action packed week of sailing, racing, paddle boarding, canoeing and more! We will be hosted by the Andrew Simpson Foundation, a charity set up in the name of British Sailing legend and Olympic Medalist, Andrew Bart Simpson, who died training for the Americas Cup. Bart was the most loved and adored man in the British team during the time Sam (Head of Sailing) was a member of the British squad, so it is great King s can support his memory. Bart wanted every child in the world to have the opportunity to try sailing, and that is what the foundation aims to achieve.
Scholars News Well done to James Crawley who continues to progress his running. In the 80m hurdles - James improved his PB to 13.1 seconds. In the 800m James followed up his 2:09 mins in the Kent schools with another 2:09 in August. In the 300m, he posted his first sub 40 second time as well as running a 37.4 (rolling start) fastest leg in the Tonbridge Athletics club squad that broke the club U15 4x300m relay record, a feat which secured Tonbridge U13/U15 team promotion back to the UK Youth Development League Premier League South. OKS Paralympic skier Millie Knight nominated for The Sunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year Award. Millie is excited to be shortlisted by The Sunday Times and Vitality for the 2017 Award and she gives this report: 'September has been and gone in a flash and our training camp in Chile seems like a distant memory. We started September with a really fun day filming with our goggle sponsors Uvex at their HQ in Farnham, before jetting off again to Germany for another training camp. We came home pleased with the way the camp went - despite picking up a few bumps and bruises punching race gates! Arriving back from Germany, I had a great day with SportsAid and Sportsbeat at Hemel Snow centre before Brett flew down from Scotland, where we had the pleasure of attending The Royal Navy Ski Team charity event. A big thanks to Jason Dodd, my photographer for the past four years, who kindly donated his time again as we took some new photos at The University of Kent. I also found some time to speak with InTheSnow magazine too, where you can read my interview online. Finally, just before heading out to Saas Fee for another training camp, I received some very exciting news, receiving a nomination for The Sunday Times Young Sportswoman of the Year Award! I feel very honoured and look forward to attending the event at the end of October. Good luck to fellow nominees Freya Anderson, Ellie Downie and Sammi Kinghorn too. It's been a crazy month and I've been fortunate enough to spend some time at home. I don't often get to be home, but when I am, I love spending time with the people who support Brett and I in all we do - and thank you all for your continued support. Best wishes, Millie.' For two weeks during the summer holidays, 26 girls flew to South Africa, commencing what was going to be an informative, exciting and cultivating hockey tour across both Johannesburg and Durban. Amelia Paine, 6a Jervis, gives the following account: 'We were fortunate enough to spend the first two days watching a variety of International hockey teams compete in the World League. Not only did we get to watch some of the best hockey we had ever seen, we got some of the England players' autographs, a shout out on the England Hockey Twitter page and even got ourselves on live TV when we were interviewed at half time! Inspired by this, we formed two teams and each team got to play against five different schools across Johannesburg and Durban, with all the girls giving 100% in every game. Out of the ten matches, we won five, lost two, and drew two - it was a very promising start to the 2017 season. We also had a great itinerary that made sure we took in all that South Africa has to offer. We visited Shakaland where we learnt all about Zulu culture and some of the girls got to join in with a traditional dance performance. We also visited the Apartheid Museum and the Hluhluwe Game Reserve, where we had the opportunity to catch sight of the Big Five. Overall, the tour has made the first and second team hockey squads a close knit group, whom have shared an unforgettable experience, which would not have been made possible without the help and organisation from the staff, and for that we are extremely grateful.'