Friendly Gala 2022
Oxford University Swimming Club’s annual Friendly Gala was back in 2022 for a Halloween Special on Sunday 30th October. Teams from Bristol, Warwick and Oxford Brookes travelled to the Rosenblatt Fortress to compete against Oxford University Blues and Second (Dolphins) Teams for the prestigious title of Friendly Gala Champions.
This gala is the first time to see the newly recruited Freshers in action and see how the rest of the team stand after a long summer. Given the team have only been training for 4 weeks, there were a lot of fantastic swims from all teams, with some nail biting finishes. This year saw the largest number of swimmers competing for Oxford University teams ever, showing huge depth and enthusiasm for swimming at Oxford.
The support on poolside was fantastic: the volunteer helpers, the OUSC alumni who came back to commentate, and the cheers from all competing teams made the gala as exciting as ever.
A few noteworthy swimmers from the Oxford Teams:
- Jonathan Rutter won all 5 of his races, including 3 individual swims, and achieved Blues Times for every individual event he swam
- Max Anderson Loake had an incredible anchor leg of a nail-biting relay
- Andrew Hong achieved his Blues Time on the 100 fly in a fantastic swim, leading from the start
- Charlotte O’Leary swam really well for her standards
- Jackson Spry showed exceptional stamina doing 3 consecutive events
- Molly Aspinall had a very promising 100 Freestyle
- Freya McCauley-Wright stepped up swimming 100 fly in her own heat, and for breaking 3 Second Team Records
- Emma Madden, Finley Easton and Andrew MacKenzie all broke Second Team Records in their respective events
- Mara Wuelfing and Sarah Tinley both got some fantastic PBs
- Jordan Oliver and Kate McLoughlin both gave exceptional support towards the Freshers and had great poolside atmosphere
The overall results were:
| Position | Points | Team |
| 1 | 274 | Oxford University Blues A |
| 2 | 232 | Oxford University Blues B |
| 3 | 208 | Oxford Brookes A |
| 3 | 208 | Warwick A |
| 5 | 191 | Bristol A |
| 6 | 108 | Oxford University Dolphins A |
| 7 | 99 | Bristol B |
| 8 | 83 | Warwick B |
| 8 | 83 | Brookes B |
| 10 | 54 | Oxford University Dolphins B |
| 11 | 29 | Oxford University Dolphins C |
A tough battle for third and fifth positions left Oxford Brookes and Warwick tied in both A and B teams. Oxford University Blues A and B took top spots in the gala, with Oxford Dolphins A beating all other University Second Teams. This is a fantastic result at this point in the season; looking forward to some huge racing at BUCS, BUSL and Varsity!!
Well done to all swimmers who competed, a special congratulations goes to Oxford University Blues A who took the title this time! We are already looking forward to next year – who will get the title then?
