College Swimming: Goodricke take top honours

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Photos: Zoe Bennell

Goodricke emerged as the shock overall winners in Sunday’s College Swimming tournament, holding off the Derwent threat to secure victory by thirteen points.

In another unexpected turn of events, there was more joy for Heslington East as Goodricke’s win was accompanied by a brilliant third-place finish from perennial strugglers Langwith, who finished six points ahead of Halifax to confirm their top-three status.

Following on from last week’s rapturous popularity of the annual College Rowing event, this weekend’s sporting centrepiece took place in the form of a swimming gala at York Sport Village, where the traditional sporting powerhouse colleges Derwent, Halifax and James were unable to overcome the irrepressible Hes East duo.

Excellent crowd support was matched by some superb performances in the pool, as 22 different events in the men’s and women’s categories saw Goodricke emerge victorious, only finishing below third in three races. During several events, there were competitors who lagged significantly behind, but every time this happened, the crowd would continue to cheer until all competitors had finished the race – a testament to the great spirit of College Sport at York.

The event was a great success for College Sport, and further underlined the growing belief that sport at the University is at its highest ever standard.

The event delighted College Sports Officer Dave Washington, who told Vision: “I’m thrilled that there were so many people down here today – they brought a fantastic atmosphere, and every college demonstrated some high quality swimming. Congratulations to Goodricke for the victory today. Not many people would have tipped them to win, but they earned it.”

Final standings:

Goodricke – 173.

Derwent – 160.

Langwith – 122.

Halifax – 116.

Vanbrugh – 99.

James – 75.

Alcuin – 55.

Wentworth – 34.