Published on: 8 February 2013

The 2013 summer sports season kicks off this weekend with the Senior School taking on cross-town rivals Scotch. Director of Sport Anthony Lynch believes Round 1 could go a long way to determining the final outcome with Christ Church and Scotch the main contenders in several codes.

Mr Lynch said the School’s dominance on water looked set to continue in 2013 and he expected Christ Church to be one of the top schools in swimming, rowing and water polo. “Our swimmers have been in the pool since early January with large numbers of boys attending training. Last year’s Inters Swimming result was closer than previous years so the boys will need to continue their strong team effort to keep up the momentum,” he said.

After last year’s hard-fought final round win against Scotch in the water polo, it will be the opening round this year that could determine the PSA champion. “The boys have had a solid preparation over the holidays and are ready to test themselves against Scotch in Round 1. However, they will need to keep up their effort over the rest of the season as Aquinas will also be a contender.”

Mr Lynch said although Christ Church’s First VIII might be one of the lightest crews on the water at the 2013 Head of the River regatta, it was technically one of the best. “It has been interesting to watch how this crew has started to grow and mature from the first day of training in September last year. It will be even more interesting to see how many schools are left in their wake when they cross the line at the completion of the 114th Challenge Cup later this term.”

After a successful basketball tour in Hawaii, both on and off the court, the First V look a real prospect for top three contention. “The PSA basketball competition this year looks set to be a very even contest with little separating the top five teams. While all games will be tough, Round 3 at home against Trinity could well decide the pennant.”

In tennis, Mr Lynch said the three biggest games of the season would be played at away venues. “The draw hasn’t helped us but our Firsts line-up includes a great mix of both older and younger players – on paper we look very competitive. Round 1 against Scotch sees arguably the two top teams in the competition playing off in a finals-like atmosphere. Both teams have several state-ranked players on either side of the net and it is shaping up to be a fantastic contest.”

A mid-table finish could be on the cards for Christ Church’s First XI cricketers who have their work cut out for them against Scotch this weekend. “Our bowling has been solid over the pre-season games but we now need to start occupying the crease for longer periods of time when batting so the runs will come.”

In Volleyball, Mr Lynch said both the Firsts and Seconds would be looking to start the season with wins against Scotch. “Wesley, Aquinas and Trinity will provide bigger challenges but all other games are very winnable.”

Leading from the front will be this year’s summer sports captains, who will be recognised at assembly next week. They include:

BASKETBALL Daniel Dewberry and Jet Hunter
CRICKET Matthew Horton
ROWING Max Welborn
TENNIS Alistair Baker
VOLLEYBALL Harry Beaton
WATER POLO Charlie Moorman and Alex Brogan

Swimming and Sailing captains to be named at a later date

View PSA fixtures and the full list of Term 1 fixtures, a list of all codes’ respective team managers and coaches as well as training days, venues and times here.