Our first sporting event for 2021 was a celebration of being able to compete together again and have fun swimming. Both elite swimmers and those still learning were able to show their ability in all the swim strokes at the GCC Primary Swimming Carnival. Estelle Collins and Sacha Stokes both left the carnival covered in blue ribbons with Estelle also stamping her name all over the records.
The students came ready for action and packed the stands proudly wearing their house shirts. War Cries began the day with great passion exuding from every member of the teams.
Racing began early when 100m freestyle races were swum before bused students arrived and two records were broken in this event. Estelle Collins and Hadley Smith broke records with Hadley smashing the previous record by almost 30 seconds.
While our very competent swimmers competed in butterfly, all other students participated in fun house relays to start the day off, allowing everyone to have a swim early. Everyone enjoyed helping their house team in these races.
Backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle races followed in both Pool A and Pool B. Pool A races were 50m for 10 – 12 year olds and 25m for 8 and 9 year olds. The students in these races were the fastest twenty in each age group. All Pool B races were 25m and some great races were had in this pool.
There were some close races in most age groups in Pool A throughout the day with often different students winning different strokes.
Estelle Collins and Sacha Stokes dominated their age group winning every one of their six races! Estelle rewrote the ten year old girls record book setting five new records, three set by Caitlin Moore in 2014. This was an amazing achievement. Estelle is a very talented swimmer and we look forward to seeing her progress to the District and possibly Regional Carnivals.
Eight year olds Hadley Smith and Corbie McNeil are two talented young swimmers who fought it out in every race. There was less than one second separating them in backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle with Hadley winning back and free and Corbie winning the breaststroke race. Hadley ended the day with 58 from a possible 60 points which was also an impressive performance giving her the title of 8 girls Age Champion.
Nine records were broken all day, five of these by Estelle and three by Hadley and Corbie McNeil broke the 8 girls breaststroke record.
Swimmers in Pool B were also thrilled to win ribbons in their races swimming against students of similar swimming ability. Some free swims and an across the pool novelty race also added to the fun of the carnival. Students gained valuable points for their house in every race they swam in and it was great to see most students participating fully in the carnival.
Unfortunately, the House Trophy could not be presented at the end of the carnival due to time restraints but Zion would have celebrated loudly as their house decisively won the carnival. They scored a massive 1023 points with Ararat in second with 778 points closely followed by Sinai in third with 768 points. Just 10 points separated second and third which is quite amazing after all the days racing!
We were very grateful to the Burpengary Regional Aquatic Centre for allowing us to have parents supporting our children at this event. They cheered enthusiastically and appreciated the close racing and determination on display in both Pool A and Pool B.
Congratulations to our Age Champions
| Age | Age Champion | Runner Up |
| 8 yr Girls | Hadley Smith | Corbie McNeil |
| 8 yr Boys | Beau Schroter | Mason Graham & Rocky Demerutis |
| 9 yr Girls | Sophie Doyle | Hannah Rae |
| 9 yr Boys | Oliver Cleary | Mana Kane |
| 10 yr Girls | Estelle Collins | Isla McNeil |
| 10 yr Boys | Oliver Laurens | Bailey James |
| 11 yr Girls | Charlotte Ramke | Sophie Sharma |
| 11 yr Boys | Sacha Stokes | Sam Chidgey |
| 12 yr Girls | Ava Scott | Stephanie Turnbull |
| 12 yr Boys | Cooper James | Carter Clark |
Congratulations to our Record Breakers
| Event | Name | Old Record | New Record |
| 10 yr Girls 100m Free | Estelle Collins | 1.30.84 Caitlin Moore | 1.24.13 |
| 10 yr Girls 200m IM | Estelle Collins | 4.01.87 Chloe Turnbull | 3.33.05 |
| 10 yr Girls 50m Free | Estelle Collins | 40.95 Caitlin Moore | 38.83 |
| 10 yr Girls 50m Breast | Estelle Collins | 53.00 Caitlin Moore | 51.93 |
| 10 yr Girls 50m Fly | Estelle Collins | 49.01 Amy Trevan | 48.28 |
| 8 yr Girls 100m Free | Hadley Smith | 2.28.27 Freya Dunford | 2.02.87 |
| 8 yr Girls 25m Fly | Hadley Smith | – | 28.48 |
| 8 Girls 200m IM | Hadley Smith | – | 5.24.57 |
| 8 Girls 25m Breast | Corbie Mc Neil | 35.00 | 33.34 |
GCC families can see all the photos on Pixevety in these albums: Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival and Primary Swimming Carnival by Kurtis Modlin. Don’t forget that you can click on ‘My VIPs’ to take you directly to photos of your own children.
Wendy Stott