This week we welcomed all of our BCS prep pupils to the poolside for their year group house galas as the sun shone through the windows! Seas of blue, red, yellow and green flooded the poolside, with the children competing fiercely in a selection of individual and relay events. Swimmers battled through the heats earning house points during each race for first to fourth place positions.
Year 6 opened the galas on Tuesday with some fantastic medley races. St Phillip’s and St George’s took an early lead for the boys’ houses but were chased down by the girls of St Monica’s during the backstroke heats. A final contested heat of butterfly swimmers was an accolade of the children’s progress in the pool this year. Some fast relay changeovers enabled St Phillip’s to take the overall lead, finishing in 1st place for Year 6!
With the Year 6 gala complete, the Year 5s took to the poolside, keen to follow their peers’ successes in each house. This time round it was the girls of St Monica’s who took the early lead with some fantastic Individual Medley performances and relays in the opening heats. As we raced through the events, the swimmers showcased their fantastic progress in the pool in rounds of freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke races. By heat 9 there were only 4 points separating 1st and 4th place positions! Some incredible underwater transitions from the girls’ houses in the final few races enabled them to gain some further points ahead of the boys, with St Monica’s taking 1st place only 1 point ahead of St Phillips in 2nd for Year 5.
In the afternoon we welcomed Year 3 to the poolside. Some apprehensive and nervous faces, competing in house galas for the first time, stepped up to race. Fears quickly diminished as the houses united in supporting each other through a phenomenal round of relays. PE staff were beaming to see all our Year 3 swimmers travelling out of their depth in the pool, with all competitors swimming lengths and cheerfully persevering through the gala rounds! There was certainly something in the water on the side of St Monica’s who also finished 1st place in the Year 3 house gala in the penultimate competition of the week.
On Thursday we welcomed Year 4 to the pool for the final house gala of the week. The opening heats saw battles between the girls of St Margaret’s and the boys of St George’s with some races determined solely on the finishing touch! Heat 4 of the freestyle was tied, with George’s and Margaret’s inseparable! As the morning continued it was the sea of blue that dominated the pool as the girls of St Margaret’s took 1st place for the Year 4’s.
Overall winners of the house galas will be awarded during the sports round up later this term. In the meantime, well done to all participants, a tremendous week for swimming here at BCS!
Miss Mockler
