ECHO Magazine Issue 2, 2022

House Swimming / Interview with Yanning

Threepenny Opera

Hall

Debating

tournament

Christopher Khong

Lok Zhang

Lau

Daniel

EDITORIAL

Ah, I’m glad to see that you’ve decided to take a break from your Stranger Things binge watch and come by to check out the second edition of the Echo magazine for 2022! Before your end of year exams come around, kick back and relax as this magazine takes you through another great (and lockdown free) term 2 and 3 of Camberwell Grammar School.

To begin, dive into the deep end with me as I recap the long-awaited House Swimming event and explore the underwater life of Yanning Zhang, revealing his thrilling experiences and secrets of his swimming career. Then, watch out for the “Lights, Camera, Action!” as Daniel Strojek shines his spotlight on the great Threepenny Opera, showcasing his first-hand experiences with the successful school play whilst catching a word with the cast about their favourite moments.

But as the curtains close, don’t sorrow, as the curtains of the great Hamer Hall concert are opened right around the corner with the amazing interludes to guide you through the musical journey that awaits. Sorry, what’s that? You love pineapple on Pizza? What a debatable case! Well, luckily for you, Captain of Debating, Kerry Sun, is here to discuss his experiences with House Debating so that you may have a chance at winning your delirious case. Then, let a member of the soccer team, 95% possession, take you through the eyes of the winning team and their journey through the Robinson Soccer tournament. Now flip the page and get exploring!

From the desk of the editor, Ryan Le

HOUSE SWIMMING

Recap:

After three long years, House Swimming finally had its comeback. The lanes were straightened, the timers were readied and the water was in pristine condition for the mass of students to race their heart out. In Camberwell fashion, races quickly commenced, with students hopping into the pool one by one and were passionately cheered on from the side lines by their respective houses.

As always, there were those boys who actually swam, silently, hungrily craving for this one House event for the last three years to show off their chiseled bodies and thrash everybody else who were just hoping they remembered how to swim after so long at home, whilst those who “didn’t know how to swim” sat on the side lines with their clipboards and made sure people knew how to tell the time properly. All in all, it was another successful House event and big congratulations to Macneil and Clifford on, somehow, another joint win.

Ryan Le, Year 12

The Swimming Lords’ favourite strokes: (from left to right)

Lewis Clarke: Butterfly Richard Luo: Butterfly Cody Greenwood: Butterfly Yanning Zhang: Backstroke Greek God Greg: Breaststroke Ken (the Dragon) Han: Scrambled Dr Khor: The Standing wave

Interview with Camberwell’s best swimmer in history, Yanning Zhang

How does it feel to be Camberwell’s number 1 swimmer?

I wouldn’t say number 1, only one of the better swimmers, there are quite a few other highly competitive swimmers in our younger ranks. However, it does feel rewarding to be able to bring others into the sport of swimming and I’m honored to have been part of Camberwell Grammar’s takeover in swimming.

How old were you when you started swimming and why did you choose to take up this sport?

I was exposed to the water quite young actually, but started swimming competitively at around 8 or 9. I took up swimming because my mum thought I had too much time on my hands after school, and as I was already quite comfortable around the water, she decided to enter me into a swimming program.

How often do you train to look this good? – and to be a great swimmer, of course?

(Hahaha) Well I’m meant to be training 9 times a week with 3 gym sessions a week but recently I’ve only been training around 6 times a week due to the extra load of Year 12.

What is the most thrilling experience you’ve had during a competition?

It would be the 2019 Age Nationals where me and my other two mates were able to go 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the 200IM. It was the first time anyone had achieved this and celebrating the win together was so special, especially because it was such a tight race. It was definitely a moment I’ll never forget.

Is it true that you’re really a fish in disguise?

I can neither confirm nor deny.

THREEPENNY OPERA

Daniel Strojek, Year 12

This year’s production was the amazing Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht - a satire of post-war capitalism that mocks both its corrupt characters and the broken society it is set in. Countless people worked on the show - director Mr Stocker, the crew, the cast and many more. We performed the show over 6 nights inside the Famous Spiegeltent.

To find out what the true essence of the show was about, I interviewed 44 members of the cast and crew with the following question: “What was your favourite backstage moment?”

HAMER HALL

INTERLUDE SPECIAL

Wonlee Kua – part of the trio playing bella ciao on the guitar

In music academy, Mr. McGee, Matthew and I wanted to play something really unique in Hamer Hall. We had the idea that we wanted to perform a fast paced, exciting sounding piece. With the hit Netflix series Money Heist being very popular in the school, we decided to play the song Bella Ciao which was featured in multiple episodes. Mr. McGee made an arrangement for the song and we rehearsed it over the span of around 5 weeks. On the day of Hamer Hall, all of us 3 were excited and nervous to perform. The loud and giant crowd definitely was the main reason for it, but we all went on stage and gave it our all. In the end we had a thrilling and fun experience in Hamer Hall, a memory none of us will ever forget.

The most asked question I get is “What on earth is that thing?”. The instrument I played is a hurdy gurdy, the model I play is a French renaissance design made by a retired builder in Adelaide. The reason you have never heard of this instrument is because it is dead/slowly being revived (there are an estimated 20 hurdy gurdies in Australia). The first time I listened to one playing I was captivated by its unique sound and appearance, as many people are. a solo in Hamer Hall seemed to be my best option to gain an audience. Yes, I felt utterly terrified while I was performing but, in the aftermath, I feel a sense of accomplishment for lifting the hurdy gurdy into the spotlight.

tane parKinson – playing the hurdy gurdy (game of thrones and top gun themes)

george trembath – playing the guitar and singing (the dying of the light)

Going into the night I was pretty nervous, I knew that there were going to be heaps of people there and everyone be watching. I’d decided to do the “The Dying of The Light” because I’m just a big fan of the song to be honest. I think it works well with just me on the guitar. Even though I was nervous, I knew that I would be ok as I had put the work in and practiced hard, and I like to think it all paid off in the end.

The song choice was a no-brainer for us, Dear Theodosia was a song that just resonated with us and one that we knew a lot of the audience would know and enjoy. It was hard to hide being emotional, but Jade being there just uplifted me and gave the much-needed confidence boost. It was just a great way to bid farewell to concerts at CGS and a thank you to the music school that nurtured us from the beginning.

andreW nguyen – singing dear theodosia (With Jade bishop)

HOUSE DEBATING

Kicking off in late term 1, the annual House Debating competition was another impressive display of Camberwell Grammar talent and at times, foolishness, a great opportunity for senior students of all experiences and year levels to debate.

In round 1, B grade’s Derham defeated Steven on the topic “That we should restrict urban sprawl”, with debating extraordinaire Cooper Carbone letting slip that “we should kill all possums” because “we don’t like possums”. Despite this hot take, the very same team proceeded to win the B grade finals against Clifford, reaffirming the debating mantra that there are very few things you can do to immediately lose a debate.

In round 2, Derham House Captain Jerry Ji led the A team to an upset victory, narrowly beating out the Clifford team and Captain of Debating Kerry Sun who seemed to forget that timings existed, beginning a whole new thematic rebuttal at the time limit. A smooth brain inability to recognise the clock and squeeze in a response to certain arguments, delivered a clinching, yet well-deserved win for Derham. And to the chagrin of many, they subsequently won the final round against the Schofield team, discussing the topic “That trade should be linked to human rights”. The overall result was a 1st place finish for Derham, and a joint 2nd place for Clifford and Macneil house.

Congratulations to all those who participated, and a massive thanks to our adjudicators, heads of house and especially our debating coordinator, Dr Mandusic.

Written by Kerry Sun, Year

ROBINSON STREET SOCCER TOURNAMENT

At the conclusion of term 2, the school’s highly anticipated Robinson street soccer tournament had kicked off once again.

After an easy win against the year 11s in the quarter finals, 95% possession were confident leading into their toughest game of all: against Grug Plays Soccer FC. A skilled shot by Lachie and a fatal mistake made by the goalie in the first half of the semifinals, saw the scores 0-1 in favour of Grug Plays Soccer FC. Undeterred, a pirouette by Alec- intentional or notscored quite possibly the goal of the tournament, levelling the scores, 1-1. With 95% possession reinvigorated by the incredible display of athleticism and Grug plays FC humiliated by their lack of defence, saw Arya score a missile half court shot, straight past multiple members of their team, ending the game 2-1.

On the other hand... Prefect FC lived up to their unsportmanship ways, pushing and shoving their defenceless opponents out of their way into the finals.

There, facing 95% possession, led by captain Arya Arminazad, poetic justice was delivered onto the prefects, sending them back to the library and common room where they had crawled out from.

Already 3-0 behind, an embarrassing red card not only sent Conrad out onto the benches but had also distinguished their delusional dreams. A goalie run by Yanning cemented the final nail into their coffin, scoring against Ryan Le, who at this point was left alone by the defenders who had very clearly given up. A sympathetic goal was given to the prefects as the game ended with the scores 4-1. Written by Yanning Zhang (not biased at all)