Water Polo

This was an exciting year from a water polo perspective. With COVID finally in the past, we could look forward to a full calendar of fixtures and tournaments. Excellent coaching from our departing Head Coach Mr Caleb Hughes, new Head Coach Mr Rumen Kurtev and SPS Alumni Phelim Owens also meant that we were well prepared for the challenges ahead.

Many members of our U14 team had the hard task of learning a new sport whilst competing against some of the best schools in the country. However, their commitment to lunchtime training, along with Mr Kurtev’s expertise meant that they were the team to beat. They finished the year with 9 wins, 1 draw and only 4 losses, showing us that the future of St Paul’s water polo is in safe hands. COVID also meant that the U15 squad had little experience when it came to water polo fixtures. Despite this, they delivered a solid record of 5 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws. U16 water polo is always difficult, as GCSE work becomes a priority for most. This may have contributed to the squad’s 6 losses, however they still managed to get 4 wins under their belt.

Senior water polo got off to a difficult start, as problems with our pool meant that we were unable to host the England Schools (ESSA) qualifying rounds. It was then postponed to a date which we were not able to attend. This meant that we would be competing for the ESSA Bowl. Great performances from captain Jacob Banit and Ramon Garcia-Rodenas allowed us to make the most of a bad situation, and we proceeded to the Bowl finals. Ibrahim Khan, Sam Mewawalla and Pradeep Ellepola from the U16 squad all stepped up and provided us with extra man-power for the occasion. Emil Karawani’s solid defence, James Rossiter’s sharpshooting, Luke Buckland’s playmaking and Sandro Weeks’s goalkeeping allowed us to take home the trophy after a dominant performance. Dylan Staveley and Aris Stephanakis also created vital goals and assists to help us through the games. We also saw some invaluable contributions and tenacity from incoming captain Oscar Lakatos. Hopefully, we will be able to transfer this result into the higher competitions next year and bring home even more silverware!

Finally, a special thanks to Dr Gaydon and all the Aquatics staff for making everything this year possible. ❚ Oscar Lakatos

END MATTER

As Suzanne Mackenzie steps down from her editorship of The Pauline, it is only fitting to pay tribute to her brilliant work over the past eight years.

Rightfully so, Suzanne has always put the pupils and their endeavours at the heart of The Pauline; it is a school record and we would agree that the beating heart of a school is its pupil body. Suzanne’s first edition arrived in October 2014 and, since then, The Pauline has significantly evolved under her competent stewardship. Under Suzanne’s leadership, The Pauline has become more ambitious both in scope and execution; she had, in the words of one colleague, a ‘fantastic vision’. Always with the pupils first and foremost in her mind, Suzanne has pushed for all aspects of school life to not only be recorded, but represented in our annual record. Departments, societies, clubs, and sports teams have all been given the space (and encouragement) to document and showcase their endeavours. At the same time, the production quality has been improved with the arrival of professional graphic design partners Haime&Butler. In order to honour Suzanne’s time at the helm, we have collated below a selection of covers from the past eight years, which will hopefully bring back some memories and make for enjoyable viewing. (There is a constant, if you can find it.) Suzanne discharged her duties with diligence, creativity, and care: hats off. DJB

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11

12 9 8

13 6 7

10 3

All but one of the following has a literary-themed answer as well as clue

ACROSS

2 Elizabethan crossdresser is instrumental protagonist! (5) 4 “Ladies and Gentlemen: the enigmatic T. S. Eliot!” (7) 6 Shakespeare’s refused entry, I hear? (4) 9, 5 Deranged Joe butchered us for Victorian novel (4,3,7) 10 Predator pens lament for Bloomsbury author (5) 12 Australia XI drop one novelist (6) 13 Nineteenth-century heroine’s eye blurred after first month – starts to reassess employment (4,4)

DOWN

1 A speedy satirist? (5) 8, 3 Talent washed away for a modernist masterpiece? (3,5,4) 11, 7 Assessment before an award for Roman rabble-rouser (4,6)