The roof will be raised at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre tomorrow night as Newington College swimmers are cheered on by our 1st XVI, students and other supporters at the final AAGPS Swimming carnival for the season.  

Thirty-three  Newington students from the fifty-five strong team in the U12 to U18 age groups will take part, competing against other GPS schools. Several thousand spectators are expected to fill the stands to watch 74 scheduled races. 

‘We are competitive across every division and have high hopes for all our swimmers come tomorrow night.’ 

‘Each school participating in the event will bring several busloads of spectators, creating a fantastic atmosphere for the students who are racing,’ says Mr Ryan Moar, Director of Aquatics at Newington. 

The College has tallied up some top notch performances across previous AAGPS carnivals this 2025 season, such as Year 10 student Luke L who has broken three GPS Swimming records so far; the 400m Freestyle, 400m Individual Medley and 200m Backstroke.  

‘We are competitive across every division and have high hopes for all our swimmers come tomorrow night.’ says Mr Moar. 

High-quality performances from the Newington swim team come as no surprise, given the dedication shown by both competitors and coaching staff out on the pool deck. Newington senior and performance squads train five mornings and three afternoons per week, while the junior squads spend four afternoons and one morning training per week.  

When students join the swimming program, participants are delegated into one of Newington’s five swim squads: Mini, Orange, Bronze, Silver and Gold according to age and ability. Typically, Mini welcomes the newer, younger swimmers and Gold, the College’s championship swimmers and winners.  In 2024, Newington’s Swim Team claimed the GPS Relays Trophy, while Newington Swimming Club won its first Nationals gold thanks to recently graduated swim team Captain, Sebastian King’s win in the 200m Backstroke at the Australian Age Championships. 

Younger Newington swimmers recently competed in the IPSHA Swimming and Diving Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre and at the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) carnival on Wednesday. Wyvern Year 6 students Ned B, Paxton C and Oscar B competed in the U12 Springboard and Year 3 Lindfield student Maximus G in the U9 Springboard competition. 

The AAGPS Swimming carnival will be held at 6.30pm at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Friday 28 March. Anyone from the Newington community is welcome to attend and support the College competitors. 

You can read more about the sport opportunities at Newington here. 

*Article update – 2 April 2025

The AAGPS was a highly succesful event which included 15 podium finishers!

The below table includes podium finishers for each age group.