Reddford House Blue Hills had three of their houses compete for this year’s Spirit and Team Trophy’s at their inter-house swimming gala on 4 January.
The houses, Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh showcased their talents as they battled it out in the first round of backstroke races, followed by the breaststroke, freestyle and a relay challenge to end off the gala.
Glasgow took third place with 156 points, while Dundee came second place with 203 points. The winning house Edinburgh earned themselves a whopping 214 points and also earned the Spirit Trophy.
Vice-captain for the winning house, Nkateko Hlungwane shared her excitement on behalf of the team saying that she felt like they put in a lot of effort. “There were days where we dread being Grade 7s but in the end, the Grade 7s did good and all the other grades did good. I feel like we really showed them what we’ve got.
“For the future, I am going to encourage more people to join swimming. We have some really good swimmers I realised that today and I feel like people are really shy and scared but I feel that everyone should join swimming because they are so good,” said Hlungwane.
Some of the best swimmers in all of the houses also expressed their sentiments. Representing the U13s boys and Edinburgh house, Shuvek Naidoo said that nothing much went into his preparations though he did attend practice yesterday, “I was kind of excited but at the same time scared but now I feel very good and proud of myself for my achievements and thus I think I want to proceed with this swimming career.”
Micah Bester, who represented the U10 girls and Edinburgh house, said, “Yesterday was like a normal school day, and I almost forgot that today was the inter-house gala, nonetheless, I am very happy and excited that I won three gold medals.”
Dini Raborifi from Glasgow’s U13 boys squad said that he did prepare but did not really put much of his power into preparations. “When I got home I cooled off my legs so I could be ready for today.”
Raborifi added that to be a proper swimmer like him they would have to go for training. “Also one should make sure that they are on a balanced diet and make sure that they keep their metabolism high, meaning that they don’t gain weight as they eat, and you should not drink alcohol,” he concluded.
