The 72-strong Emmanuel ACC Swimming Team competed on Friday 22 March in the ACC D-Division Swimming Carnival at HBF Stadium. With a six-week block of training under their belts, partnered with South Lake Dolphins Swimming Club, the team had their sights set on the event, aiming to back-up their fantastic 2023 performance.
The team had an outstanding day at the Carnival. It was fantastic to see the high level of commitment, sportsmanship, and talent on display. Throughout the day, there was a tight battle between two schools: St George’s Anglican Grammar School and Emmanuel Catholic College, going head-to-head in the pool and on the leader board. The margin of points only stretching to a mere few points between the schools.
Emmanuel was extremely impressive across not only the individual events but also in the team events, worth crucial points. Placing 1st in three out of four Medley Relays and placing in the Top 3 for eight of the 4x50m Freestyle Relays, relay teams were on fire and understood the brief. Our Juniors were exceptional across the day, winning back-to-back Junior Boys and Junior Girls Shields repeating 2023 efforts! Furthermore, our Senior Boys and Girls placed 2nd and 3rd respectively demonstrating a huge improvement from last year and deserving commendation on their fantastic efforts. Throughout the day, our team was led strongly by our Swimming Captains Cooper Atkins and Amelia North who brought their expertise, knowledge, and upbeat vibes to their leadership.
What was most impressive across the day was not only the spirit seen in the Emmanuel stands cheering on fellow teammates, but the quality of swimming. Practice in the pools at training saw Emmanuel have extremely strong finishes, excellent changeovers, no disqualifications, and a feat of outstanding relays. Overall, the ECC Team placed 2nd, 3 points short of first, an exceptional result. Alongside the Overall Junior Boys and Junior Girls Shields, the team secured the Overall Boys Aggregate Shield. This is an outstanding reflection of the hard work and efforts from our swimmers and team, who are to be highly commended on their incredible display of talent, determination, and grit demonstrated throughout the season and on the day.
I would like to make a special note of the swimmers who swam up in higher divisions for our team – Mayela McDougall (Year 9) and Zoe Moffatt (Year 8). Both students swam so well and played an integral role in our team. Mayela swam in the U/19 Age group, securing two third places and placed in the Top 5 U/19 Champions – an outstanding effort.
Individual Awards
Emmanuel had several swimmers who performed well in their respective age categories and won individual awards. The following students all finished in the Top 5 for their age group.
It was fantastic to see and hear an incredible amount of support from our Emmanuel Swimming Team, and our parent cheers squad in the spectator stands. The atmosphere was electric with the culture of Emmanuel Sport on full display, a big highlight of the day. A big thank you to all staff who attended the day and of course to our coaches for their commitment to our team and early morning trainings: Jordan Dowie, Dave Townsend, Teresa Cosgrove, Justin Cordingley and Stefano Di Bernardo (South Lake Dolphins – Head Swimming Coach). The future of Emmanuel Swimming continues to look extremely bright, and we cannot wait to see what next year brings, it promises to be another fantastic one.
All results can be viewed at the following link: https://www.accsport.asn.au/system/files/meetmanager/swimming/2024/swimd/index.htm
Mrs Celina Dormer
Head of Sport