APS News No21

abingdon.org.uk/prep 19 Abingdon Prep Sport On a mid-June Friday, our Under 11A XI set off for Somerset, adorned in their tour hoodies and caps ready for the first cricket match of the weekend versus Taunton Preparatory School. It poured with rain on the way down to the game, but surprisingly the match could go ahead, so the team changed into their whites and warmed up to get the journey out of their legs. Ned, our captain, won the toss and elected to bat. Ollie opened and hit a quickfire 9 runs before being caught at mid-wicket. Ned and Iestyn settled the innings down and were on 25-1 when the heavens opened again. Soon, we decided to abandon the game. However, instead we played two six-a- side matches indoors, which was a great experience for all of the boys. Although on a cricket tour, surfing at Polzeath Beach on Saturday was the highlight of the weekend for the boys! The surf was a clean 2-3 ft. swell, perfect for many of the beginners in the group. By the end of the 2 hour lesson, almost all of the boys had stood up on their boards. The most outstanding surfers were Ollie, Gabriele and Iestyn. Lunch on the beach followed by some souvenir shopping completed a fantastic afternoon, and we returned to the hotel on the crest of a wave. That evening we all went tenpin bowling which concluded an exhausting day! We checked out on Sunday after a good breakfast, making our way to the Yelverton Bohemians Cricket Club. We received a warm welcome from our hosts who won the toss, electing to bat first in the 20 over match. The home batsmen had a rather cavalier approach, scoring quickly Under 11A XI Cricket Tour but they suffered four run outs, achieving 136 for 7. We got off to a great start but lost key wickets reducing the run rate significantly. However, a quick flurry of runs towards the end of the game made it very exciting to spectate. At the end Abingdon Prep. fell 7 runs short of the Yelverton total. Yelverton Bohemians CC 136 for 7 (Benji 1 for 6; Gabriele 1 for 10). Abingdon Prep 129 for 4 (Ollie 20, Ned 17; Gabriele 14). Lost by 7 runs The Year 6s were great ambassadors for the School and received many positive comments. Sam and I would like to thank all the tourists for their great company. Ashley David-Ward Abingdon Prep is very proud of our Year 7 swimmers who competed at the IAPS National finals. The Olympic Swimming Pool in London is a daunting venue - absolutely enormous and bustling with confident club and prep school swimmers. Alex, Angus and James may have had less experience of competitive swimming, but they rose to the challenge, competing together in their age group relay events. After warming up with a solid swim in the medley relay, they aced the freestyle relay, smashing their entry time personal best by over five seconds and completing the four lengths in under a minute; they came 11th in the country! Ned competed in the individual 50m backstroke achieving a personal best, coming photo finish 6th in his national final. The boys were a great team; they behaved impeccably, supported with brilliant poolside help and cheering from parents accompanying them. Huge thanks go to Ashley for the enormous admin task that is IAPS swimming and for all his work with the boys in the pool throughout the year. IAPS National Swimming Finals