I suspect that it was with some relief that we headed to the pool for our Upper School Swimming Gala as temperatures stayed in the red this week! It was a fantastic event with real passion, competition and spirit at its heart. It is incredible watching the finesse and power that many of our swimmers possess making for some exceptionally tight finishes. As with ever year, Mr Cato warned the Houses as we went into the relay races, that there would be no room for error with the handovers and disqualifications might follow. Mr Bloom went a step further offering the school that in the event that there were no disqualifications, Mr Cato would jump into the pool…a fine offer!
However, I suspect that Mr Cato is simply too popular and pupils were not prepared to see him taking one for the team and hence, we had our fair share of disqualifications! Nevertheless, this simply helped to make things even more exciting. Mr Wright, attending his 39th Orley Farm Gala was our guest of honour and he presented the House cup to Hastings, the winners of the 2017 Upper School Gala.
…and to close proceedings Mr Cato, in his desire that our 2018 Gala has no disqualifications, did end up in the pool…fully clothed. A very big thank you to Mr Bloom for organising an amazing end to this week…Good luck with you Sky Dive tomorrow!
Tim Calvey