The first event of the year was the Kent Secondary Schools Relays Championships in Margate . Sevenoaks teams won seven gold medals and two silver medals from the ten races , allowing them to qualify in seven events for the ESSA national final at the London Aquatic Centre . The final involved the top 20 school teams in the country . The inter girls narrowly missed out on a podium place , finishing fourth , but reaching four of the finals was an incredible return against the best schools in the country .
The Kent Secondary Schools Individual Championships saw us return to Margate in January . The boys ’ team did well to finish joint first overall with the girls taking third , with gold medals in individual events awarded to Demi Alli and Izzy Okaro .
Over three weekends in January and February , the Kent Championships saw many fantastic performances involving all the clubs in the county . Many Sevenoaks students competed , with golds earned by Maddie Evans , Thomas Ellershaw , Demi Alli , Louis Hayes , Izzy Okaro and Chengze Duan .
The Weald and Downland Cup , at Tonbridge School , was another very successful day for Sevenoaks . We took gold medals for the girls ’ U14 and U16 teams , silver medals for the boys ’ U14 and U18 teams and bronze medals for the boys ’ U16 and girls ’ U18 teams . The Tonbridge Trophy then took place and comprised 11 of the strongest schools in the region . An understrength Sevenoaks team swam well to finish fifth in the event .
The very competitive Bath and Otter Relay took place in March and saw us return to the London Aquatic Centre . Sevenoaks teams qualified for three out of four finals , with the girls finishing fourth in the freestyle relay .
Our final major competition was the World Schools Games . This was an excellent day for our swimmers . Sevenoaks won the U13 team cup , beating schools from all over the world . Tom Ellershaw won overall points by a single U13 swimmer and Maddie Evans claimed five gold medals .
As well as the competitions , there have been several friendly galas against Mayfield , Dartford Grammar School for Girls , Reigate Grammar , St John ’ s , St Olave ’ s and Whitgift that have provided our swimmers a great opportunity to compete . We are very proud to have offered 69 students the opportunity to represent the school swimming teams over the course of the year .
Steve Brenchley
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