STUDENTS at Sacred Heart Catholic School retained their title at one of the largest competitions in the West Midlands.
A total of 288 students from 16 Coventry schools raced for glory in the The Catholic Schools Swimming Gala as a capacity crowd packed into Pingles Leisure Centre.
Boys and girls from years four, five and six were split into east and west groups for the morning session, competing in 25m breaststroke, backstroke and front crawl sprints, 50m distance races and 3x25m relay heats.
The highest-scoring eight schools from the morning qualified for the finals with students competing in all three strokes and the 3x25m relays.
Reigning champions Sacred Heart secured first place by a single point after capping off a string of strong performances with victory in the boys’ 3x25m relay final.
The school also won in the boys’ front crawl finals, came second in the girls’ relay and podium finishes in the girls’ front crawl and girls’ and boys’ backstroke.
Sacred Heart’s PE teacher Sophie Newman said: “We’re thrilled to have retained the title, but it’s mainly pleasing to see how the competition has developed over the last few years with such a strong turnout this year.”
