Sportathon - Friday May 16th

Date: Friday 16 May 2008

For the last three years the last Friday afternoon before 'study leave' has been given over to a School Triathlon competition, originally staged in memory of Rebecca McNie, and as a fund raiser for the Rebecca McNie Foundation. This year's event featured the traditional elements of swimming, cycling, and running, but allowed competitors to take part in one, two or three of the disciplines.

It was not a summer afternoon, and the pool was decidedly chilly as the first stage took place. Each entrant was invited to swim for 20 minutes, and the number of double lengths completed was adjudged to be the 'score'. Individual winners in the pool were George Levett, Francesca Dowle, James Norman, and Katie McNie. The most lengths completed were swum by Tom Vafidis, and he carried his score of 28 lengths over to the next phase of the afternoon.

The cycling course was simply a circumnavigation of the Jackman Field, and, again, the most laps in 20 minutes added to the score. Here the winners were Jacob Austen, Lauren Fryer, Freddy Pack, and Miss Cliff - the only 'senior girl' solely taking part on a bike.

The final element of a mini-Cross-Country run - counting the number of laps completed in 20 minutes - was an exhausting finale for those playing a three part part in the proceedings. Here the best individual runners proved to be James Southey, Gina Zahn, Matt Dixon, and Backy-Ann Gladwin, resplendent in a chef's outfit!

For those who were brave enough to do all three elements, the reward of a commemorative trophy went to the winners, Oliver Lawrence, Anna Shevetovska, Matthew Williams, and Margot Chatenay. This sequence of Junior Boy, Junior Girl, Senior Boy, and Senior Girl, applies to each of the other sets of results.

Two final awards were made, before a vote of thanks to Miss Ayoub for another superb display of her organisational skills. Tom Vafidis received a medal for his performance in the pool, and George Punton -'Batman' for the afternoon - won his medal for the best costume of the day, just outdoing Max Plumptre's bra and pants!