King triumphs in thrilling finish at WHS 2024 swimming carnival

KING House has etched itself into the history books, pulling off one of the most remarkable come-from-behind victories ever seen at Wangaratta High School’s 2024 Swimming Carnival, held at the Wangaratta Sports and Aquatic Centre last week. Languishing in fourth place for most of the morning, suffering from a clearly visible lack of numbers during the novelty events, and overall numbers at the venue, King stormed back into contention on the back of six standout individuals who would collect six of the 12 age group champion medals. Late in proceedings, the leaderboard fluctuated race by race, with the top three houses all at various stages in first position, and Ovens well within striking distance too. In the end, it was King who saluted by a mere two points from last year's champions Merriwa, with Wareena just 13 points back. Apart from the once-in-a-century draw between Wareena and King in 2021, WHS sports co-ordinator Sandy ‘Newmo’ Newman said it was the closest finish she could recall in her 26 years of running the event. In a wonderful scene, King's two senior house captains, Clove Boonzaayer and Zoe Baguley, lifted the iconic shield, flanked by the other 10 King House captains, in front of a packed auditorium during the presentation ceremony at the PAC. Finals scores were: 1st King 410; 2nd Merriwa 408; 3rd Wareena 397; and 4th Ovens 354. Interestingly, King finished last in 2023, a whopping 126 points behind the winner Merriwa. It goes to show that any house can win, any year. Individually, there were 12 age group champion medals awarded during the presentations. Again, these champions become part of WHS history forever, some winning for the first time and others now multiple winners. Age group champions were: 13 Girls - Aroha Waddell - KING 13 Boys - Hanesh Govinda Samy - WAREENA and Angus Fraser - WAREENA 14 Girls - Ruby O'Kane - MERRIWA 14 Boys - Oskar McGahan - OVENS 15 Girls - Lillian Hooper - KING 15 Boys - Sam Morey - MERRIWA 16 Girls - Milly O'Kane - KING 16 Boys - Merlin Tzaros - WAREENA 17 Girls - Tara Genn - KING 17 Boys - Jye Laxton - KING 20 Girls - Zoe Baguley - KING 20 Boys - Tristan Scott - OVENS Lillian Hooper scored the most individual points, with 34 from her five events, while Merlin Tzaros was the other to pull more than 30, with his 32 from four events. Jye Laxton though, may be the most important name on that list. Jye was going to miss the original swimming carnival as he was on a family holiday, but the rescheduled date saw him suddenly available and this stroke of fortune was likely a key reason for King's victory. Another key point in this year’s carnival was the super participation of year seven students, who collected the most points for all four respective houses - with Wareena having the highet tally of 189. The school thanks its prefect team for running the barbecue, 9D class who ran their own food stall, year 12 student Cody Lepoidevin who was the DJ, and the 48 house captains, ‘Newmo’ for another well run event, and the many others who helped make the carnival such a success. The school also wishes its 50 race winners and relay team members all the best competing at this Thursday’s Upper Hume carnival in Wodonga.

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