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SWIMMING 1981

With our small nucleus of keen and able swimmers we had, overall, an enjoyable and successful term.

We swam in a total of three different age groups against Dover Grammar, St. Lawrence College, Kings Canterbury, Sutton Valence, Royal Hospital School, and R.M.A. Sandhurst. The results were as follows:-

U13 Won 3 Lost 1
U15 Won 3 Lost 2 Tied 1
SENIOR Won 2 Lost 5

It seems noteworthy that the senior team is once more the weakest. This seems almost inevitable as boys leave at the 5th year level or opt for an easier summer sport.

The senior team was led by Julian Richards, with strong support from Keith Raynor, Mark Watkins, Dave Horwood, Dave Simpson and Chris Tompkins. The season climaxed with the fixture against Sandhurst, one which is always enjoyed by the swimming team. The school team emerged victors by the very narrow margin of 2 points (38-36). This was the first time the Sandhurst team had been beaten for some years.

The season was also fruitful as far as records were concerned:-

KEITH RAYNOR Sen. 41 Back 1;13.4 Sen 4 x 1 I.M. 1:17.1
CARL EDWARDS U15. 31 Free 1:13.4 U15 4 x 1 I.M. 1:21.3
MICHAEL DAVEY U13 21 Back 40.5
MARK HIGGINSON U13 11 Fly 17.1

LIFESAVING CLUB

With the reintroduction of a second club session, it was good to see a number of Senior boys taking awards again. Though only a small number initially, it is hoped that there will be a gradual increase over the next year or two.

Awards passed:

10 Intermediate (mainly juniors)
4 Bronze Medallions (D. Colley, R. Orchard, I. Fyfe, K. Raynor)
1 Award of Merit (K. Raynor).

WATER POLO

Many people regard Water Polo as a game in which 14 people dive into water and throw a ball around - those seniors who began playing this year soon found that this was a gross misconception!

Water polo within the school is now flourishing. This season proved to be our most successful for some years. We entered the East Invicta League and finished 7th out of 10, which was quite a remarkable achievement considering the calibre of some of our opponents. We are at a disadvantage in that we play many club teams who tend to take the game more seriously and train a lot more frequently than ourselves.

Under the adept guidance of Mr. Marsh, we developed as the year progressed. The team had an exciting blend of players. Peter Kelly proved to be outstanding and reliable in goal, supported by a solid defence of Andy Clark and Carl McCann, who coped competently with the constant barrage of shots. Keith Raynor and Mark Watkins moulded an exciting attacking partnership and were the principal goal scorers. The two Upper Sixth formers in the team - Mark Flynn and Julian Richards were ever present, although often tired! Mark Flynn in fact played in the Brunei Water Polo Championships during the summer!

Kev Stevens, Mick Bates and Gary Owens are appearing as skilful Intermediate players - all representing Dover Life Guard Club.

The Inter-House Tournament was eventually won by Wolfe in an extremely tense and competitive match by 3 goals to 2.

K. RAYNOR

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