Bender in a class of his own
ETHAN Bender bettered four records on his way to senior victor ludorum at Grantleigh College’s high school inter-house gala last Friday.
Bender, who trains under coach Wendy Cook at Froggies Aquatics outside of school, dominated after putting in much training over the extended school festive break.
The talented swimmer, who is going to compete against the country’s best swimmers in Durban this weekend, bettered the following records in the boys’ open category - 50m butterfly (old record 27.23; new record 26.28), 50m breaststroke (old record 32.31; new record 31.57), 50m backstroke (old record 29.79; new record 29.62) and 50m freestyle (old record 25.25; new record 24.70).
But those were not the only records bettered on the day, with Mia Hewitt beating the U15 girls’ 50m breastroke record, which was 37.90. She finished in 37.56.
After all points were added up, Trogons were awarded the coveted House Trophy after tallying 365 points, followed by second placed Orioles with 266 points and third placed Bishops with 131 points.
Ella-May Claassen, who competed in the girls’ U14 age group, was awarded the junior victrix ludorum, with Ross Hassard taking home the junior victor ludorum.
The senior victrix ludorum went to Megan Saint, with Bender taking home the Senior Victor Ludorum.