It is always a pleasure to see our students ‘dive right in’ to the swimming gala and compete for their houses. It is also a pleasure seeing those swimmers who train for hours in the pool swim so effortlessly and quickly! This year's Galas did not disappoint, with stunning efforts and impressive record-breaking swims.
Year 7 and 8 Gala (Juniors)
There was a lovely buzz of anticipation as the swimmers started to arrive after break, then the Year 7 spectators and parents ready to cheer on the athletes who had put their hand up to represent their Houses.
The first race is always fun — the ‘caterpillar relay’, where a team connected by pool noodles races from one end to the next. It is a fun and crazy way to break the ice of the gala and settle everyone’s nerves. It was also our first record broken, held since 2018. The West House Junior Girls team now takes pride of place on the honours board.
It was amazing to see so many young people who have not featured so much in other sports showing that they have practiced and trained, performing brilliantly for their House. It was super to see Michael P, Aidan O, Daniel N, Dashiell L, Joe, Hera K and others showing how proficient they are in the pool.
Several records were broken:
Junior Boys 3x25 Individual Medley – New Record, Dashiell L, 1.17.00m
Junior Boys 4x25 Individual Medley – New Record, Gabe N, 1.16.00m (A record previously held since 2016!)
Gabe then narrowly missed the Junior Boys 25m Butterfly record by 1 tenth of a second.
Junior Boys 50m Breaststroke – New Record, Gabe N, 40.3s (Another record held since 2016!)
Race winners:
| Race | Record | Winner | House | Time | |
| 1 | JG Woggle race | 31.1 | West | W | 29.47 |
| 2 | JB Woggle race | 27.8 | South | S | 28.38 |
| 3 | JG Backstroke 25m | 17.30 | Emily S | E | 20.32 |
| 4 | JB Backstroke 25m | 18.00 | Joe C | W | 23.44 |
| 5 | JG Backstroke 50m | 34.36 | Amelie H | E | 46.03 |
| 6 | JB Backstroke 50m | 37.60 | Killy F | W | 38.88 |
| 7 | JG Butterfly 25m (A) | 14.80 | Isobel H | W | 19.98 |
| 8 | JB Butterfly 25m (A) | 15.50 | Gabe N | E | 15.56 |
| 9 | JG Freestyle Relay | 1.11.40 | West | W | 1.15.17 |
| 10 | JB Freestyle Relay | 1.07.84 | East | E | 1.10.34 |
| 11 | JG Frontcrawl 25m (A) | 14.5 | Evie J | W | 18.42 |
| 12 | JB Frontcrawl 25m (A) | 15.3 | Sam B | E | 16.61 |
| 13 | JG Frontcrawl 25m (B) | 14.5 | Amelie H | E | 17.84 |
| 14 | JB Frontcrawl 25m (B) | 17.6 | Edward M | S | 17.01 |
| 15 | JG Frontcrawl 50m | 31.07 | Caitlin H | W | 38.52 |
| 16 | JB Frontcrawl 50m | 30.15 | Gabe N | E | 30.51 |
| 17 | JG Individual Medley 3x25 | 1.03.6 | Evie J | W | 1.24.00 |
| 18 | JG Individual Medley 4x25 | 1.23.00 | Dashiell L | S | 1.17.00 |
| 19 | JB Individual Medley 3x25 | 1.23.00 | Amelie H | E | 1.47.00 |
| 20 | JB Individual Medley 4x25 | 1.17.30 | Gabe N | E | 1.16.00 |
| 21 | JG Breaststroke 25m | 24.8 | Saskia G | W | 28.72 |
| 22 | JB Breaststroke 25m | 22.8 | Leo F | N | 26.43 |
| 23 | JG Breaststroke 50m | 42 | Cara E | S | 53 |
| 24 | JB Breaststroke 50m | 44.91 | Gabe N | E | 40.3 |
| 25 | Junior Squad Relay 8x25 | 2.29.83 | West | W | 2.38.00 |
Big Shout out to Killy F, who moved to West House on a free transfer for the day and competed side by side with other swimmers — real sportsmanship, Killy!
Well done to all swimmers – we are all very proud of you.
Year 9 – 13 Gala (Inters and Seniors)
This Gala was slightly less of a noisy affair, however the older age group Gala was still full of brilliant surprises, great performances and broken records. In this Gala we maintain the age group split, however the swimmers can choose events they would like to swim in. Not all events have competitors!
| EVENT | RECORD | RECORD HOLDER | YEAR | Winner 2025 Name: | Time: | 1ST place house |
| Mixed Fun Caterpillar Relay Mixed G&B and Ages | 23.2s | East | 2025 | East | 23.2s | E |
| IG Backstroke (25m) | 18.7s | Matilda R | 2023 | Thea F | 17.2s New Record!! | E |
| IB Backstroke (25m) | 21.5s | Oscar G | 2023 | Freddie S | 20.7s New Record!! | N |
| SG Backstroke (25m) | 17.7s | Tali H | 2023 | Anastasia W | 18.2s | W |
| IG Backstroke (50m) | 33.5s | Imogen M | 2016 | Thea F | 34.2s | E |
| SG Backstroke (50m) | 35.2s | Jasmine M | 2016 | Anastasia W | 39.1s | W |
| IG Butterfly (25m) | 15.4s | Ellie A/Brooke C | 2015/2022 | Eva C | 14.1s New Record!! | N |
| IB Butterfly (25m) | 12.5s | Toby T | 2008 | Joe D and Arthur M | 22.6s | W |
| SG Butterfly (25m) | 15.2s | Pippa R | 1998 | Lucy T | 16.1s | N |
| SB Butterfly (25m) | 13.89s | Toby T | 2010 | Pip T | 15.6s | E |
| IG Butterfly (50m) | 36.6s | Lois B | 2023 | Eva C | 30.8s New Record!! | N |
| IG Frontcrawl (25m) | 15.1s | Lucy T | 2022 | Eva C | 14.1s New Record!! | N |
| IB Frontcrawl (25m) | 15.3s | Max W | 2022 | Joe D | 16.5s | W |
| SG Frontcrawl (25m) | 15.1s | Lucy T | 2023 | Lucy T | 15.1s Equalled Record!! | N |
| SB Frontcrawl (25m) | 15.6s | Casper B | 2023 | Pip T | 13.8s New Record!! | E |
| IG Frontcrawl (50m) | 30.6s | Freya K | 2018 | Eva C | 35.6s | N |
| IB Frontcrawl (50m) | 27.9s | Ollie T | 2008 | Joe D | 40.0s | W |
| SG Frontcrawl (50m) | 31.74s | Jasmine M | 2016 | Ellie C | 29.8s New Record!! | E |
| SB Frontcrawl (50m) | 26.9s | Ollie T | 2010 | Pip T | 32.4s | E |
| IG Individual Medley (3x25) back, breast, free | Thea F | 1.04.2 | E | |||
| IG Individual Medley (4x25) back, breast, fly, free | 1.13.9m | Freya K | 2018 | Eva C | 1.17..7s | N |
| IB Individual Medley (3x25) back, breast, free | Joe D | 1.15.6 New Event & Record!! | W | |||
| SG Individual Medley (4x25) back, breast, fly, free | 1.22.2m | Tali H | 2023 | Ellie C | 1.36.7s | E |
| IG Breaststroke (25m) | 20.3s | Lucy T | 2023 | Thea F | 19.7s New Record!! | E |
| IB Breaststroke (25m) | 20.7s | Pip T | 2023 | Freddie S | 20.8s | N |
| SG Breaststroke (25m) | 20.1s | Tali H | 2023 | Lucy T | 20.8s | N |
| SB Breaststroke (25m) | 20.3s | Micheal H | 2023 | Pip T | 19.4s New Record!! | E |
| IG Breaststroke (50m) | 40.3s | Freya K | 2018 | Thea F | 40.7s | E |
| IB Breaststroke (50m) | 40.4s | Johnny T | 2007 | Freddie S | 47.5s | N |
| SG Breaststroke (50m) | 42.6s | Lucy B | 1997 | Anastasia W | 49.3s | W |
Overall Winners:
Swimming Gala House Shield:
| Y7 & 8 Gala | Y9 - 13 Gala | Overall | |
| 1 | West (150) | East (67) | East (203) |
| 2 | East (136) | North (56) | West (190) |
| 3 | South (96) | West (40) | North (142) |
| 4 | North (86) | South (8) | South (104) |
Junior Girl Cup Winner: Amelie H
Winner of the 4x25m IM plus 1 other win
Junior Boy Cup Winner: Gabe N
Winner of the 4x25m IM plus 1 other win
Inter Boy Cup Winner: Freddie Simmons
Inter Girl Cup Winner: Eva Crowe
Senior Boy Cup Winner: Pip Thompson
Senior Girl Cup Winner: Ellie Cooper