BGS Swimmers Fly at Frankston

The annual swimming carnival was held at The Pines Pool in Frankston last Tuesday. We were blessed with perfect weather for swimming and the boys came with their House Spirit bubbling over. Excellent swimming was shown by a number of boys including Fletcher Kaintz  and Dion Maillard but if you were watching closely what you saw was true BGS spirit.

Boys cheered on their mates whether they were in their House or not. Boys walked along the pool cheering the last finishers in races, ensuring that those boys felt the support of their peers. Boys shouted their house chants proudly. Boys demonstrated respect for their peers, teachers, venue staff and the bus drivers. The senior boys encouraged the participation of the junior boys not only by encouraging but by getting into the pool themselves.

This year we introduced the 100m Freestyle and had some more novelty races, including my favourite: the staff vs students relay. Students won that one, only narrowly, which considering they are half our ages (possibly even a third) we did just fine.

The sportsmanship and participation of the students and the staff reflects the love that we all share for the school. When speaking with the boys about what they felt were the highlights of the day it was ‘the positivity and spirit’, ‘the encouragement of everyone’, and ‘participation with enthusiasm’ – what great things this says about our school. Richards took the cup, by a narrowing margin from Battye and Forsyth just a few hundred points behind.