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Swimming
The annual swimming gala
with Cothill again gave us the
opportunity to involve over fifty
boys from across the entire age
range at Summer Fields.
This year’s event was, as expected, exciting
and saw some really closely fought races. Our
junior swimmers did extremely well and for
some of the new 1stYear boys, this possibly will
have been their first competitive swimming
gala against another school.They really set
the pace from the very start, swimming with
real enthusiasm and determination.A special
mention must go to
Jake Lee
,
Henry Snow
and
ObumOnwu
who all came first in their events.
The older swimmers -
Marc Lindgren
(Captain),
TomHoward, Jago Gourlay,Angus Shepherd-
Cross, Christian Oberschneider
and
Callum
Lloyd
– not only performed well in the water
but also played a valuable role in supporting
and encouraging the rest of the team during
the races.Thanks to the determined efforts of
everyone in the team, we were rewarded with
a win.
At the end of June, under a dark,
tempestuous sky, threatening rain at any
minute, a squad of 45 travelled to Caldicott for
what is always a challenging fixture. Our boys
did not seem convinced by the dark, rain-laden
sky over a windy, outdoor pool but any negative
thoughts soon dissolved as the first event,
the U9 individual medley, saw Snow and Lee
coming in 1st and 2nd to give us a great start.
Summer Fields A team won 11 events and
the B team won 6 events out of a total of 26.
Our strengths, as always, were in the relays
which we won at U9, U10 and U12 level.
Notable performances came from
Harry
Nichol
and
DoronAkinyanju
.Although we
managed 17 wins overall, the end result left us
12 points short of overall victory but what an
exciting, close match this had turned out to be!
RHB
League Swimming Competition
Maclaren (1st)
Tennis
This sport has continued to
thrive,with a record number
of boys having tennis lessons
throughout the year.This was
reflected in the strength in depth
of players in all age groups.
It was pleasing that, with boys’
commitments in other areas, if a team
member was unable to play, there were
numerous other options.We enjoyed
another strong season that kicked off with
a senior singles tournament at Elstree
on the first weekend of term. It is the
only opportunity the boys get to play
competitive singles matches at school and
a welcome new addition to the fixture
list. The final was an all Summer Fields
occasion, contested by our U13 first
pair: in a close match
Mark Spiridonov
,
captain of tennis, narrowly defeated
Albert
Sitwell
.We then enjoyed some good wins
against MCS, when we fielded both a 1st
and 2nd team at U13 level. Particularly
pleasing was that four of these players –
Sitwell,
Kit Henderson, Nick Crawford
and
Theo Mellor
and Sitwell - all have one
year left, which bodes well for next season.
There are not many opportunities for the
younger boys to play matches but the
U10 team, consisting of
Alverey Bowlby,
Api Brown, Tate Cecil, Harry Nell, Harry
Nichol
and
George Marks
, fought hard in
a close-run battle against Cothill to come
out the overall winners.
The biggest event in the tennis calendar
is the Radley Prep Schools Tournament in
which we have enjoyed many successes
over the past ten years. Once again, the 1st
VI played well in the group stages to make
it through to the final. In another close set
of matches against the Beacon (a retake
of last year’s final) our boys were narrowly
beaten.
Joseph Menell, Henry Daly, Rigby
Swarovski Adams
and
Hector Brown
all
played exceptionally well. Spiridonov and
Sitwell deserve a special mention as they did
not lose any of their matches. It was a day of
exceptional tennis and I am delighted that
four of them will be back next year to have
another go! The Colts also played well but
found themselves in a very challenging group.
They got to the final of the Plate where they
were narrowly beaten.All six members of the
team (
Augustus Stanhope, Rory McNair,
Sebastian Corso, Nick Crawford,Albert
Moores
and
JacksonAmies
) show enormous
promise for the future and Stanhope must
also be congratulated for being selected to
represent the 1stVI three years young.The
final matches of the season were against the
Dragon – always a highly competitive match
that showcases some of the best prep schools
tennis on the circuit.The 1stVI were victorious
but the other teams found the going a little
more challenging.As usual, the end of the
season brought us Mothers & Sons and
BOSFAM tennis – two special occasions in the
term. Congratulations to the winners of these
tournaments, respectively
Ernest Newland
and mother and Spiridonov with Mr Barrett.
Finally I would like to thank my captain of
tennis who has played in the 1stVI since he
was a 2nd year. Spiridonov is an exceptional
player and a true supporter of Summer Fields
tennis.
MLS
Senior Singles
M. Spiridonov
Senior Doubles
A.N.F.S. Sitwell & M.Spiridonov
Junior Singles
A.H.L. Stanhope
Junior Doubles
R.G. McNair & A.H.L. Stanhope
Beale Trophy for Improvement
R.C.D. Swarovski Adams
Beginners’ Tennis Cup
C.P.A. Marsden
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6
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