Sennockian 2017-2018 | Page 84

S wimming It has been an incredible few years for swimming at Sevenoaks and we have grown from strength to strength. This year was the best in recent memory, thanks to numerous outstanding team and individual performances. It all started back in September at the Kent Schools relays. Success at these can lead to the ESSA National Secondary Schools Relay Championship finals. After a very successful county campaign Sevenoaks qualified a superb nine out of 12 teams for the nationals; an unprecedented result for us and a great achievement for any school. It was a fantastic experience for all the swimmers. Another squad success came at the Kent individuals, where, with a good number of race wins, we claimed the Boys’ Cup. S port Ps y cholog y Regional Qualifiers Ellie Vowell 15/O 50m butterfly, 100m breaststroke, 50m front crawl, 50m breaststroke, 100m butterfly Sarah Williams 15/O 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke Eleanor Allen 14/U Emily Brown 14/U Kara Dimond 50m breaststroke 200m IM, 50m front crawl, 100m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, 50m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, 100m front crawl, 50m butterfly, 100m breaststroke 14/U 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke Louis Hayes 14/U 50m backstroke, 100m front crawl, 50m butterfly, 100m breaststroke, 400m IM, 50m front crawl, 100m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 100m butterfly Zac Raymond 14/U 100m front crawl, 50m butterfly, 200m front crawl, 50m front crawl, 100m butterfly The dedication of all swimmers and the coach Jon Yates has been excellent all year, resulting in success at many galas and competitions. The table to the right is testament to an extraordinary number of individual successes. Elspeth Watson 14/U Sean Holden and Jon Yates English Nationals How well you perform, whether in an exam, music recital, theatre production or sporting competition, more often comes down to how well you prepare and how emotionally controlled you can be at that crucial moment to deliver your very best. Dealing with nerves, apprehension, feeling confident, perhaps feeling unconfident, feeling anxious that you aren’t quite sure how it is going to go; you nailed it in training, but can you nail it now? 200m IM, 50m front crawl, 200m butterfly, 50m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, 100m front crawl, 50m butterfly, 200m front crawl, 400m IM Emotional intelligence is an area we have been eager to develop through our Sport Scholarship and Performance Programme, to help our top athletes strengthen their ability to execute key skills under pressure, when it counts most. Kara Dimond 50m breaststroke Louis Hayes 200m front crawl, 100m breaststroke Zac Raymond 100m front crawl Ellie Vowell 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly We have welcomed Matthew Cunliffe to the school this year to deliver a number of very relevant and insightful workshops. Matt has been applying sport psychology skills to athletes, coaches, parents and teams since 2012. British Nationals Louis Hayes 78 Our new workshops explored how the mind of an athlete needs training too. SPORT REVIEW 50m front crawl, 100m front crawl, 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 50m breaststroke, 200m IM A member of the Team GB Shooting Talent Development programme, Matt has a genuine understanding of what challenges athletes face when training and competing, and his workshops have really helped our athletes develop their skills in this area. They have enjoyed sessions which covered how to become more self-aware, how they react in different situations, how others may react and how to best to take control of their emotions and focus on performance alone. Matthew has also focussed on: different ways to work as a team; the key leadership skills that are required for success; enhancing the ability to listen and collaborate and the ability to work together when things go wrong; how to focus and visualise best performance; how to banish the fear of failure; how to focus on optimising performance in those areas within your control, and not worry about these beyond your control. Ultimately, the key message we are aiming to instil in our young athletes is that the mind needs training too. To be the very best version of yourself, and maximise performance at the key moment, requires genuine emotional intelligence and control. SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2017-2018 Cath Nicholson 79