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St Edward’s:
150 Years
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SWIMMING
In headier days for swimming at St Edward’s, in 1984,
Andrew Alan Moore (A, 1979–84) held every swimming
record at the School in all age groups. Swimming lessons
now take place in The Oxfordshire Health and Racquet
Club indoor pool. In 2012 St Edward’s swimming has seen
something of a revival under coaches Dr Anthony Bullard,
Catherine Day and Rebecca Clark, with teams competing in
galas against Downe House and Radley College and with the
inaugural House Swimming Gala, which took place in the
Autumn Term.
Anthony Bullard
Master in Charge of Swimming
per week. In the autumn of 2004 we entered the Oxford Mail
Cross Country League (and we remain the only school to enter a
team into the league). This provides a good backbone of tough
cross-country races on the first Sunday of every month from
November to March. It was an excellent achievement to win the
U17 Boys’ trophy in 2006 against some very competitive athletics
and cross country clubs in the region. The Harriers went on to
finish third in the Oxford University Tortoise relays and seventh
in the King Henry VIII relays, against schools from across the
country. The U19 boys were County Champions in 2007 and
2008, and in 2008 half of the Senior Boys Oxfordshire County
team was made up of St Edward’s runners.
The number of Harriers has now swelled to nearly 50
runners since 2010 and we split into four groups for training.
The race calendar has also expanded to approximately ten races
against other schools during the Lent term, alongside Oxford
Mail League races and local road races throughout the year. The
number and quality of girl runners has also steadily increased
and the girls were crowned County Champions in 2011, 2012
and 2013. The intensity of the sessions has not diminished for
the top runners, and now a notable annual run is the 13-mile
loop to watch the Rugby Club play at Radley College. Pupils
are encouraged to think about their training; for example senior
Harriers use GPS watches to monitor and record their runs.
Our goal for the future is to continue to support and develop
quality athletes, with pupils being selected for the County teams
and beyond. However, I also hope that pupils will enjoy their
running here at Teddies and form good habits for later life; it is
always good to hear of former Harriers who are still running.
Lewis Faulkner
Master in Charge of Harriers
Chapter 7 / Sport and Outdoors
CROSS COUNTRY SNOW
The really bad winter of 1962/3 started in Oxfordshire on
Boxing Day with heavy snow that seemed to continue for weeks.
Throughout the Easter term there were mounds of snow and
freezingtemperatures.Manysportswerecancelledoradaptedtothe
conditions. Not so for the cross country team. Out in all weathers
training and not a single match cancelled! The match at Radley
requiredwadingthroughthigh-deepdriftsinjustasingletandshorts!
– Steven Handscombe (G, 1957–63)
JOHN WADHAM (G, 1954–58)
John started to fish
in 1955 andbecame
obsessed. He was
often late forChapel
and other events of
the School day due
tofishing.Thesetwo
pike were caught
on spinners made
from teaspoons.
His Housemaster
allowed him to
fish, but he had to
run to his chosen spot, sometimes as far as Thrupp! This meant that in the Lent Term of
1956 he ran the 220 and 440 particularly fast for the School Standards, thereby pleasing
his Housemaster. He writes:‘Each line I write takes me back to happy days at St Edward’s.
So much so, that I still get enormous nostalgic pleasure out of fishing the canal that runs
alongside the School grounds.’
Below: EdwardWomersley, Tortoise
Relays 2007.
Below left: Patrick Hinton in water
splash, 2009.
Below centre: Fin Kettlewell at the
Longworth 10K.
Below right: Harriers training in
snow 2013.
Above: The outdoor pool in 1955. It was
demolished in 1999 but was extremely popular
right up until the end.
Below: Centenary display, 1963.
Left:TheSchoolswimmingsquadin1960.Atthistimetherewas a second pool housed in what is now the North Wall.
The listed mosaics still lie beneath the theatre.