Colfox goes for the lot in finals

BRIDPORT'S Sir John Colfox School lived up to its reputation as it became the most successful school at the 2004/5 Southern Schools Regional Championships, staged at the Northcroft Leisure Centre, Newbury, Berkshire.

More than 100 schools from the south of England and almost 500 students took part, involving a run of 1,000m at all age groups and a swim of 50m for Years Seven and Eight and 100m for Years Nine, 10 and 11.

Every year group that Colfox entered will be represented in the National Finals in February.

A largely inexperienced Year Seven girls' team began the competition with a fine run and put themselves in a strong position going into the swim.

The team finished third overall and Laura Bowen-Ashwin finished third overall (swim 2nd, run 6th).

Year Seven boys will be represented by Oscar Tweed (run 3rd, swim 4th) and Tom Takezoe (run 4th, swim 11th), who performed exceptionally well finishing 3rd and 4th respectively overall.

Perhaps the most surprising result was the Year Eight boys, who were very inexperienced in both disciplines. They finished an incredible second place overall.

Last year's Year Seven girls National Champions were looking to repeat their success and now as Year Eight, they were able to field two teams.

All six girls put in phenomenal performances with every team member finishing in the top twenty individual places and so the teams finished first and second, an unprecedented result.

Lucy Tweed (run 2nd, swim 15th) and Abbie Letherby (run 3rd, swim 18th) finished first and second overall. The year 10 girls' result was perhaps the most nerve-racking. The team who finished third last year in the National Finals were well placed after a gutsy run but were aware that other schools had more experienced swimmers. Despite this the girls recorded personal bests in the pool to secure a well deserved third place, equalling their position last year as Year Nines.

Thorners Primary School student Oliver Bowen-Ashwin put in a fantastic performance.

Against strong individual competition he came third in the run overall and third in the swim.

The level of competition was impressive and the competition continues to grow each year.