SUMMER SPORT ROUND-UP

Head of the River on the Parramatta River? Well, in yet another COVID-19 affected year, that sounds about right. But while we planned for pandemic-caused interruptions to the summer sport season, in the end it was the weather that proved more damaging. At the end of the rowing season, and with heavy rains forcing the closure of SIRC at Nepean, the Head of the River shifted to Iron Cove for the first time in the regatta’s 129-year history.

Pictured above: Head of the River at Iron Cove

It rained on the day of the regatta, of course, but the rain proved no real impediment to our rowers on a day where a number of crews recorded their best times for the season. And like so many of our boys have had to do over the last couple of years, the First VIII managed to keep their heads down and remain in their lane under the most trying of conditions. In a memorable race for all sorts of reasons, the boys got off to a strong start and stayed with the other crews until the final stages, eventually crossing the line not far behind The Scots College.

There were other successes through the season. The Year Nine First and Second Quads also recorded some impressive victories at their invitational regattas, beating The King’s School, Shore and St Ignatius’ College. Carter Clifton (III) and Zachary Hyde (III) won the Schoolboy Year Nine Double Scull race at the Schoolboys’ Head of the River by an impressive three lengths. Another rowing success was Josh Zhang (VI) as Captain of Boats, a poised and highly committed leader of the Shed.

Grammar tennis had a successful summer season, with the Seconds, captained by Samuel Roediger (VI), finishing third in the GPS competition, beating second-placed Scots 6-3 along the way. An impressive group of First team players featuring Jeffrey Chen (V), who once again made the GPS team, played strong tennis throughout the season and were always competitive. Daniel Johnson (V), who won all his single matches this season, was a standout.

The strong future of Grammar tennis is plainly evidenced by the younger players coming through. The U13s has once again provided many quality players, with Lucas Lin (I) and Douglas Leung (I) featuring in an exceptionally strong age group. The U14s more than made up for the loss of Kai Sloane (II) to the Seconds, with four wins from five matches for Liam Dimmock, Jack Macgonigal, Edward Kang and Aden Tay (all in Form II). Ryan Kapoor (III) and Ethan Lo (III) lead the way in the U15s’ four victories from five matches; and the impressive U16s should have close to half a dozen players vying for selection in the Firsts and Seconds next summer.

Cricket had its fair share of rain interruptions this season, but the Second XI nevertheless managed a third-place finish in a season that was capped off by a thrilling one run victory over Shore.

Across the club, there were a number of higher individual achievements: Nicholas Stanwell (V) and Zack Winslow (IV) won GPS selection honours, while Zander Robertson (VI) and Jonty Snyman (III) scored centuries. For the First XI, though, the key word was not individualism, but rather teamwork. The best display of the season – the First XI’s defeat of Scots – was founded upon a tremendous bowling and fielding effort. The First team now looks forward to the annual ‘Bat’ game against Melbourne Grammar School, to be played in Melbourne on 8 and 9 April.

There were a number of highlights in a successful Grammar basketball season, a season in which we had twelve teams competing each week at Open level. The U13s age group won three-quarters of its matches. Players like Ethan Choi (II) in U14s, Jay Mabee (III) in U15s and Charlie Mitchell (IV) in U16s were recognised for being the leading players in their age groups.

The Grammar Firsts and Seconds attempted to play a slower, more European brand of basketball this season. The plan was to try to take the wind out of the opposition’s sails and minimize possessions in games, and it worked more often than not. Both teams played intelligent and highly structured basketball. For the First team, this resulted in memorable victories against St Ignatius’ College, who Grammar beat at SIC for the first time, and Sydney Boys High School, who Grammar beat for the first time in more than a decade. First team players Owen Marschner (VI) and Sachin Absolum (VI) are to be commended for their selection in the GPS Seconds representative team. Representative qualification is not an uncommon thing for our swimmers this season. At the time of publication, we have Jonathan Cheng (II), Asher Hamilton-Hay (III), Adam Tehfe (IV) and Aidan Dow (VI) already confirmed for CIS selection.

St Ignatius’ College vs Grammar

Grammar vs The King’s School

Representative qualification is not an uncommon thing for our swimmers this season. At the time of publication, we have Jonathan Cheng (II), Asher Hamilton-Hay (III), Adam Tehfe (IV) and Aidan Dow (VI) already confirmed for CIS selection.

There was a terrific spirit in the swim team, which was not surprising given the inspiring leadership of Bradley Chan (VI) and the enthusiasm of swimmers like Stirling van As (IV). And it was great for our Form VI swimmers to be able to swim at all the carnivals this season without too much COVID-19 disruption.

The Juniors were especially strong this season and are to be congratulated for their third-place finish in the final carnival. It was pleasing to see the way the younger boys stepped up to be a part of the Open relay throughout the season (Ian Kim (II) and Matthew Cheng, Lucas Kwan and Adam Tehfe (all in Form IV)).

The final carnival saw the School perform very well overall in freestyle, culminating in Grammar’s win in the 6 x 50 All Ages Relay. There were lots of personal bests at SOPAC that night, but Asher Hamilton-Hay (III), who has qualified for CIS representation in five events, really excelled. At fourteen, Asher has achieved a lot already, but like so many of our young sportsmen across all of our summer sports, he points the way to even more good things to come.

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