A hot and LOVE-ly day to be in the Splash Zone (Swimming Carnival Article)

  A Hot and LOVE-ly Day to be in the Splash Zone

18/02/2022

The Swimming Carnival is an annual tradition at Blackburn High School that is held in the first few weeks of Term One. This year, the exciting event took place on Monday the 14th of February at the Boroondara Sports Complex. With the blazing sun and the excited students as well as teachers all present, the day was nothing but hot and fun. The final scores were nail-biting - with Hollows just edging ahead for the win with a total of 3 points more than Melba; while Freeman came third and Dunlop taking last place for this year. Some of the most popular events at the Carnival include the Big Splash and the noodle race. The day went down a success, with all credit going to our wonderful PE teachers who planned the big day.

 

We interviewed some teachers and students who participated in the event and managed to get some of their opinions about the carnival. A Year 11 student said she personally did not enjoy the swimming carnival only because it was too hot, however, the highlight of her day was the whirlpool. Year 7s from Dunlop and Hollows stated that it was “a lot of fun” considering it was their first-ever swimming carnival experience because they managed to win a lot of ribbons and had the freedom to hang out with their friends for the whole day without needing to stress about schoolwork. The students also suggested that the carnival would be more fun if the teachers could add a “water gymnastics” and “dolphin dive” event for the students to compete in or to have a “video game competition” day for the students to compete in. They also expressed that the swimming carnival could have been more fun if teachers were not confiscating their music and energy drinks while they were trying to have fun and cool down on a 30-degree day.

 

Two year 12 students gave us some insight into how their final swimming carnival went. They claimed that their day was really fun, especially being in the “Big Splash Zone.” Meg found the swimming carnival to be a distraction from her learning, on the contrary, Matilda did not as she enjoyed it very much. When they were asked if they could replace the Swimming Carnival with another event, they suggested the idea of a general “carnival aesthetic” with beach volleyball and bouncy castles for people who didn’t want to swim. The only complaint from these students was the need for more shade, and indoor pools to avoid the blazing sun.

Mr Butler, a geography teacher at Blackburn High School did believe that time was taken away from his teaching, nonetheless, he also believed that students were learning at the Swimming Carnival as well which made it an enjoyable time. Mr Butler also recommended a unique replacement for the Swimming Carnival, he stated that he would replace it with a so-called “Snow day”. The highlight of Mr Butler’s day was confiscating more phones than any other teacher, with an impressive record of 16 phones across the day!

Overall, the 2022 Blackburn High School Swimming Carnival was a success. With the perfect weather to swim, optimistic and competitive attitude amongst the students as well as the loud cheers for their classmates - it was a wonderful and unforgettable experience for the Blackburn High community.