Foundation Magazine 2021-2022 | Mount Kelly

SWIMMING
SWIMMING
The usual excitement filled the
swimming department in early
September, not least because of
the hope that this may be the first full and
uninterrupted, back to normal season.
As is customary at this time of year,
National governing bodies select athletes
for various different pathway programmes
to help them along their journey, and this
year provided a vast number of selections
for Mount Kelly swimming.
Swim England Junior Team Phase 3:
Calvin Fry, Erin Little and Sam Van Der
Stroom
Swim England National Events Camp
Phase 2: Olivia Martin, Erin Little, Oliver
Rowe, Hollie Widdows, Dylan Reeve, Leah
Whittaker, Holly Robinson, Arun Oelkers,
Hermione Roe, Ruby Griffiths and Laura
Dickinson.
Swim England National Development
Programme: Harry Pearse, Gabrielle
Idle-Beavers, Alex D’Onofrio, Constance
Logan, Tilly Davis, Sofia Vaughan, Zoe
Falconer, India Washer, Gracie Simons,
Matilda Purnell, Marcus Haigh, Nicole
Quiller, Panos Angelakis, Charlie Hodges,
Breanna Chamberlain, Thomas Parrott,
Fergus Thomson, Ella Huddy, Esmée
Stockley, Ivan Blazej, Blythe Kinsman,
Millie Dixon and Esmé Sherriff.
Scottish swimming National Junior
Squad: Matthew Ward
Swim Ireland National Junior Squad:
Brydan Byrne
Swim Wales National Elite Transition
Squad: Sophie Brassington
Swim Wales Youth Performance
Squad: Emily Forwood
England Para-Swimming Talent
Programme: Alex Hobbs and Sebastian
Williams
Swiss Swimming National Para-
Swimming Squad: Leo McCrea
Diploma in Sport Excellence (DiSE):
Sam Townsend, Laura Dickinson, Arun
Oelkers, Hermione Roe, Matthew Ward,
Josephine Klein, Harry Robinson, Leah
Whittaker, Alex Hobbs and Amelia Riggott
South West Regional Pathway: Aron
Holtan Smart, Jack McMeekin, Morgan
Farrar, Alexandra Daw and Brianna Davies
MICHELMAS TERM
Once it began, racing came thick and
fast in the Michelmas Term and it was
kicked off in style with our Prep and
Development swimmers winning a total of
183 medals at the City of Plymouth Gala.
Our Performance Pathway swimmers
were also in fine form early in the short
course season at the Exeter Lindsay
Powell Memorial meet with standout
swims coming from Matthew Ward when
he broke the 16 years Scottish record
in the 100m backstroke – and Erin Little
becoming the first Mount Kelly female
under the 2 minute barrier in the 200
freestyle.
The winter championships then start to
come thick and fast during this time of
year and first up was the South West
short course championships. We finished
with 13 Senior Titles, 20 Junior Titles, 2
Scottish Age Group Records, 1 Nigerian
Open Record, 4 Open Mount Kelly
Records, 33 Golds, 20 Silvers, 22 Bronzes
and 135 Finalists.
After a year off from the competition being
held, Arena League was welcomed back
to the schedule with open arms and gave
us an opportunity to defend the title we
claimed in March 2020. We first needed
to navigate the regional rounds against
very stiff competition and with some very
solid performances in rounds 1 and 2, we
headed to the regional, qualified first, but
with 3 teams hot on our heels. A great
performance throughout the team allowed
us to win the regional final by a close 5
points and ensure our place in the National
Final in Cardiff to defend our crown.
The English Schools Swimming
Association (ESSA) relay competition that
is highly regarded in the school swimming
world. In the regional relay round,
which act as the qualifying meet for the
National finals, the Mount Kelly swimmers
performed well against local rivals as we
took 6 Golds and 6 Silvers in the 12 races
and secured representation at the National
finals in all races. In the National final we
took home the National title in 5 races and
secured silver in a further 3 races. This
was a great set of results, punctuated
by our Intermediate Girls Medley relay
team (consisting of Blythe Kinsman, Lotta
Schulze, Arabella Ward and Gabrielle Idle-
Beavers) who also claimed a National
Record.
An amazing selection opportunity saw
Hazal Ozkan representing Turkey in Kazan
against the best senior athletes across
Europe at the European Short Course
Championships. She stepped up to the
challenge, not allowing the big stage to
phase her by swimming two personal
bests, one school open record and
contributing to the National team 4 x 50m
Medley relay team.
SWIMMING
Lotta Schulze and Jonathan Turck headed
home early in the cycle to compete in the
German long course age group nationals
and their best results were a silver for Lotta
in the 200m Breaststroke and a Bronze for
Jonathan in the 200m Individual Medley.
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