Swimming Carnival 2026

On Tuesday of Week 2, Fort Street High School students returned to the pool that we all know and love, Ashfield Aquatic Centre, for the annual Swimming Carnival.

The day began with our speediest racers taking the blocks for the 50m Freestyle. Familiar faces such as Brenden Fu (9) and Niki Lloyd (11) led the way, clocking the fastest times across the day, however, new recruits like Lewis Zhu (7) and Josephine Neild (7) were not far behind. Next came the backstroke. Terence Kang (11) showed that retired swimmers should not be looked down upon, and Xixi He (10) displayed another strong performance after illness disrupted the end of her previous season.

The house chants were like no other year. Previous Kennedy Cup winners Kirby House came ready to compete, donning multiple new signs and memes related to the Honourable Michael Kirby. However, they fell short in the intensity, with underdogs Preston House claiming top honours for the House Chant.

Next came the butterfly, with Elliott Steel (10) taking out the hotly contested 16 YO Boys division, and Zoe Lee (9) continuing to show her expertise across all strokes. The breaststroke often helps unearth the best of the specialist swimmers at our school with Anne Liu (11) dropping the fastest time across the Girls division in a one and done job, and Horatio Zhang (9) blitzing the Boys division, showcasing why he demolished the 13 YO Boys record at zone last year by 9(!) seconds. 100m Freestyle, the last of the individual events, gave us a small taste of the endurance masters in the lead up to the cross-country next term, with notable performances from Brendan Ma (7), Antony Walczak (10), and Emilia Edwards (7).

The relays, as always, were filled with controversy. Students racing for rival houses led many teams to disqualification, with Mawson taking out the most points, followed closely by Kirby and Preston (tied), then Sheikh and Joshi close behind.

Final points have been tallied up, with all to be revealed at a future assembly.

Selected Fort Street students now turn their attention to the Zone Swimming Carnival, which will be held on Week 6 Friday.