Dolphins Varsity Match Report 2025
The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the coach was full of swimmers, and the Seconds team were primed and raring to head off to Cambridge on Saturday, March 1st, 2025. The Dolphins, who boasted the largest Seconds Varsity showing in history, had been training all year for this moment. The freshers were keen to make their very first mark on Parkside pools, while our seasoned veterans were feeling the pressure to leave a legacy to be proud of.
The team brought the energy from the first moment we stepped foot on deck, bringing our best dance moves to a Cambridge-chosen walkout song designed to knock our spirits. After a full-throated singing of the anthem (with valiant efforts from our exchange students), we were off to the races!
The women’s 100IM started with blazing races from Sophie Boehler, Mali Jongman-Rios, and Eirinn Mcguire, bringing us a nail-biting set up for a tight competition to come. Sophie also set the bar high with a personal best in her first race of the day, and Mali swam a strong 1:15.7. Benham Cobb, Finley Easton, and Elis Knowles then swung in for our first famous Dolphins’ 1-2 finish in the 100IM, topped off with a team record and personal best from Benham and a huge personal best from Finley.
Next up, our women’s 50 backstroke saw Grace Allen make her Varsity debut with a winning race, with Eve Hewett and our women’s captain Kate McKeough following close behind. Our men’s backstrokers then set a precedent that Cambridge simply couldn’t match, with Christian Sax swimming a heat-winning Varsity record at 26.83, Pradeep Ellepola flying into a rapid 2nd place (more than a second ahead of 3rd place), and former men’s captain Tobias Lloyd laying down a formidable 50.
The much-anticipated 100 freestyle did not disappoint, starting with Weiqi Feng swimming a breakneck 1:02.36 to set a team record and personal best and win the heat. Chloe Brennan and India Mattocks solidified dominance of this stacked heat. The men’s heat matched this power, with OUSC legend Chris Carnegie leading the race and men’s captain Finn Ashworth coming in with a cracking personal best time, followed by Rory Bristoll smashing the heat.
Our institutional 50 butterflier, Freya McCauley-Wright, threw down a killer team record of 31.02, while Vivienne Nguyen edged out Cambridge for a commanding 3rd place and Mara Wuelfing continued to show us all her dynamite butterfly. The men’s 50 butterfly saw our storied club president Declan Pang swimming alongside Wojtek Treyde and Finley Easton for a blistering race won by Dec.
The 200 freestyle brought about a clean 1-2 from Weiqi Feng and Sophie Boehler, followed closely by Eve Hewett. And if that wasn’t enough, Weiqi set her second team record and Sophie set her second personal best of the day – fatigue had nothing on them. Not to be outdone, our male 200 freestylers Elis Knowles and Tobias Lloyd matched the women’s 1st and 2nd place finishes, with Tobias setting a personal best, and Benham Cobb laying down a fearless race. This battle was not one to be missed, as Tobias and Elis battled to the last second (read: 0.1 second) and beat Cambridge by more than 3 seconds.
In the women’s 50 breastroke, Nicole Farmer retained her title as event champion, while Chloe Brennan and Eirinn Mcguire both laid down the law in their second events of the day. Rory Bristoll, Andrew Mackenzie, and Finley Easton, our legendary men’s breastroke trio, smashed through their 50s. In particular, Rory broke his own varsity record to set an incredible team record of 31.87 and win the heat.
Varsity’s final individual event, the 50 freestyle, was a blitz from start to finish. On the women’s side, India Mattocks threw down a devastating race (for Cambridge), setting a team record of 28.98 and finishing nearly a whole second ahead of the Cambridge 2nd place. Vivienne Nguyen and Marlena van der Ploeg similarly set the pool on fire and brought the women’s team firmly into the lead. Our men’s 50 freestylers brought in a fiery 1-2 finish from Christian Sax and Finn Ashworth, alongside a varsity record of 23.93 and personal best, respectively, while Ahmed Abushomi laid down a decisive race to round off the team’s solo swims.
The conclusion of the individual events revealed to us that we were in the lead, but a win was not guaranteed. This meant that we were entering the relays with our competitive spirits spiking and excitement rising. Our women’s “A” 4×50 medley relay and women’s “A” 4×50 freestyle relay both took 1st place with ease, and both women’s “B” relays took honourable 3rd places, edging out their respective Cambridge “B” teams. Our men’s “A” 4×50 medley relay took 1st place by an incredible 5 seconds. In the final event of the day, the men’s “A” 4×50 freestyle took first place and a varsity record for good measure, while the men’s “B” 4×50 freestyle were just outtouched for a tight 4th place finish. This race electrified the pool, with our “A” team finishing a full 7 seconds before Cambridge’s 2nd place and sending the stands into pandemonium.
As the commentators announced our final scores, our decisive victories in both the women’s team and the open team were solidified. The final astonishing score was 115 Oxford, 55 Cambridge. In the end, 6 Seconds Team Records and 3 Varsity Records were broken.
We would like to thank Zichen Liu for his support and excellent coaching over this season – these results show the unmistakably high standard of the team, which is hugely due to our sessions together. Further, the constant support, humour, and brilliance of our President Declan Pang has been fundamental in this victory and the success of the team as a whole. We also want to thank entire OUSC committee and the donors who keep this club running, alongside the incredible volunteers, officials, and timekeepers who made Varsity happen (and showed up for us when we needed them most!). And lastly, we want to thank Cambridge for hosting us for another incredible year and being wonderful competitors and swimmers.
Bleeding dark blue,
Kate McKeough and Finn Ashworth (Seconds Captains 2024-25)
