School Matters 36

35

U14, U15 boys and girls swam in the SW London Schools Swimming Gala. The U15 squad saw off Emanuel, Latymer Upper, Wimbledon High and Wimbledon College to take 1 st place overall. Swimmer of the Gala awards went to: Matthew Barnes (U15), and Henry Coleman and Laura Kenny (U14). In a subsequent SW London Schools competition, Sadie Simpson came 1 st in the 50m backstroke and Amber Flowers also came 1 st in her 25m Butterfly event.

The Senior Rugby squad began their season with a match against Dulwich College 5th team, winning 34–30 in what Mr van Vuuren described as “a titanic struggle”. Easier going was a romp over St Benedict’s 3rd XV where the team was “physical, accurate and ruthless in both defence and attack”. In rainy conditions against ACS Cobham’s 2nd XV, the team had to dig deep and defend for their lives during the last minutes but showed good character to thwart any try scoring opportunities. Final score: 20–14 to IPS. Player of the Match: James Wharton. The team had another epic battle against Latymer Upper which saw Conor Glanville step up in the last kick of the game to score a penalty from 35m out for a 17–15 win. Player of the Match: Filip Igov. Against Boxhill, the side won convincingly, 48–12 with Matteo Strada “looking like a young Freddie Steward”.

The U13 rugby team took part in the Belmont School Mill Hill tournament against Belmont, Caldicott, UCS London, St George’s Weybridge and Brighton College Prep. Player of the Tournament was shared between Finn Bolger and Hardy Samuels. Notable performances on the day were a draw against St George’s and a win against Brighton College. The team recorded a 35–5 win against Isleworth and Syon School with Khalid Hamza Player of the Match. Both A and B teams had superb wins against Rutlish School, 25–20 and 45–30 with Jack Antrobus and Thomas Lutgen awarded Player of the Match, respectively. The U13B side fought back against Portland Place to win nine tries to eight with Milo Quirk awarded Player of the Match. Against St James’ in our annual Friday Night Lights fixture, U13 waterpolo squads travelled to Colfe’s School with the A team claiming a superb 9–5 victory. Player of the Match: Max Sochovsky.

U12 and U13 boys swam superbly against tough opposition in the ESSA SW London Swimming Relay competition finishing in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. In the SW London Schools Gala, the boys were joined by the girls to finish in a very creditable 3rd place overall. In a London League fixture at KCS, a mixed U12 and U13 squad swam beautifully from start to finish to come 1st, beating KCS, Westminster, St Dunstan’s, Colfe’s and Emanuel. Swimmers of the Day: Scarlett Cousins, Adam Hingorani and Emilia Williams.

U13B won 40–30 with Max Sochovsky Player of the Match. Both A and B sides were victorious against Harrodian while the U13A team romped home 55–5 against Boxhill. At the Surrey Sevens Tournament, the U13A did well to beat Longford, Weydon and Tiffin schools.

IPS’s water polo season began with a superb performance against South London rivals, City of London Freemen’s School. Pupils showed good passing accuracy and powered through the water to produce a 12–5 win. Jack Benson was awarded Player of the Match. U16 water polo players also demolished Latymer Upper School 14–1 this year.