27 January 2022
There’s been plenty of excellent sporting action in the pool, the countryside, and on indoor pitches in recent weeks for Woldingham’s swimmers, cross country runners and indoor cricketers, as members of the Sport Department describe below.
Miss Jessica Fullalove, Head of Swimming
We enjoyed a very successful Surrey Schools Swimming Association fixture in Guildford last Saturday 22 January – performances in this fixture are considered when selecting the team to represent Southeast Division at the annual interdivisional secondary championships. Woldingham’s seven competitors were all very professional and showed great competitiveness. Standout performances came from Lara S, Year 8, who won the 100m backstroke with a PB and Maddie L, Lower Sixth, who finished 4th in the 100m fly, also with a PB.
In other fixtures, students showed great determination at a district gala at Croydon High on Wednesday 19 January and all 12 swimmers really enjoyed competing together in a cannon relay at the end. We teamed up with Whitgift to swim against Ardingly for the first time on Thursday 13 January. Well done to Year 8s Lara S, Alice H and Telma D, who swam up an age group to race a very strong Ardingly team. Other excellent performances came from Maddie L, Lower Sixth and Bella H, Year 11. Well done too to Year 9s Aspen P and Lily O, also swimming up an age group, this time in our district gala against Caterham on Wednesday 12 January. Once again, Maddie L put in a very strong performance, as did Sophie V, Year 10.
Mrs Helen Barnes
Our first cross country fixture of 2022 was the Junior Knole Run on Friday 14 January, hosted by Sevenoaks School in Knole Park, Sevenoaks. The lovely setting for the race was enhanced even further by the beautiful, sunny weather.
Woldingham’s team comprised Year 7s Alexa B, Isabelle G, Chloe R, Leelee T and Year 8s Isabella B, Amelia C, Mia C, Lila S, and Jemima S. With more than 200 girls on the start line, the race was both tough and highly competitive. Well done to the whole team and congratulations to our fastest runner on the day, Mia, who finished in a very creditable 37th place.
Mia also competed in the Surrey County Championships juniors on Saturday 22 January, with Amie G competing in the intermediates. Both ran extremely well over a tough course and finished midfield in their respective races.
Mr Ben Ladd-Gibbon
The 2022 cricket season had a positive start with two Lady Taverners Indoor Cricket Tournaments at Dunottar. Thirteen U13 students played on Tuesday 18 January and 11 U15s on Tuesday 25 January.
These were great opportunities for the students to play some cricket, learn more about the game and experience playing competitive matches well before the outdoor cricket season begins.
In both tournaments, Woldingham played three matches against Reigate Grammar, Dunnottar and St Bede’s, with each student playing in at least two. The spirit of the game was very much at the heart of all the matches. Woldingham students showed great enthusiasm and commitment and did the school proud.