Throughout the year our teachers have been setting great examples to the pupils on embracing the College’s emphasis on ‘Challenge Creates Character’. This has been demonstrated recently with members off staff showing off their musical talents in the Summer Concert after taking on the College’s Symphonic Challenge alongside the lower School pupils. Mr Tom Armstrong, Dr Gareth Hughes and Mr Hugh Mackworth-Pread demonstrated our teachers’ great appetite for challenges once again as they joined year 10 pupils Ben Brockway and Patrick Kenny to take part in the annual Henley Classic swim. Thank you to Dr Gareth Hughes for the following report:
‘The annual Henley Classic swim took place on Sunday 25 June and, in keeping with Shiplake’s emphasis on ‘Challenge Creates Character’, three staff members and two pupils took to the Thames at 4.30am to embark on the 2.1km upstream swim. With conditions nigh on perfect for the 2017 event, expectations and excitement levels were high as the 800-strong field set off as dawn broke over Henley. All of the Shiplake contingent completed the course in highly respectable times and celebrated with bacon butties, hot chocolate and some new ‘stash’. The parties, with times, were:
Mr Tom Armstrong: 46 minutes 43 seconds
Dr Gareth Hughes: 42 minutes 09 seconds
Mr Hugh Mackworth-Praed: 32 minutes 50 seconds
Ben Brockway: 33 minutes 48 seconds
Patrick Kenny: 36 minutes 21 seconds
If that wasn’t challenging enough, it was then onto our PE department to continue the tradition of completing at least one triathlon a year. Thank you to Mr Tom Walter for providing the following report:
‘Continuing the tradition of entering at least one team triathlon a year, the PE department selected to do battle with Marlow this year. With Mr James Gaunt now retired from the team, new boy Mr George Miller was controversially selected ahead of Mr Duncan Traynor and the long serving Mr Andy Dix. Mr Miller was given the task of stepping into to the small shoes left by former Head of Department Mr Gaunt and was handed the swim leg. This turned out to be a masterstroke from team captain Mr Tom Crisford, with Mr Miller showing that his childhood spent swimming the shores of the Isle of Man were not wasted, completing the 1.5km swim in little over 26 minutes and in 11th position. A smooth transition of just 21 seconds set Mr Crisford away and he certainly put his foot down on the 40km bike leg, with a challenging tour of the Oxfordshire countryside via Henley and Nettlebed, dodging traffic, before returning along the same route in 1 hour 5 minutes - the second fastest time of the day. Another rapid transition of 21 seconds and only the 10km run left to do – all that was required was for Mr Walter to bring the team home in a good time for victory. The Thames path proved tricky, with lots of potholes, uneven ground and bridges to contend with but Mr Walter brought the team home in 42 minutes to claim the team relay crown.’