VM News

2025 Swimming Carnival

written by Year 12 VM students

The venue: 

Aquarena Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Templestowe Lower

The opening:

Students travelled to the event by bus, dressed in school uniform and bathers, while the year 12s were dressed up in costumes. The highlights were costumes themed around kids shows, like the Bananas-in-Pyjamas, as well as the Octonauts. The swimming started at 10:00am, with the Year 7 events being held first.

The events/activities:

Students competed in their age groups, for different styles of swimming, with novelty events, like a diving competition, and a floaty race. There were various floaties, like a big sub, donuts, sea creatures, and even unicorns. There were also various land activities, like volleyball, tug of war, a three-legged race, and egg and spoon race, with the main attraction being the waterslide. The waterslide entry-by- token feature was a big success shown in students’ feedback. By the end of the day, 75 students qualified to move on to Division competition.

Sausage Sizzle:

The Sausage Sizzle on the day was also a big success, run and organised by the VM team, with a special help from Mr. Galle, and Miss Giles, as they helped set up and run it with a student roster. Students had made posters to advertise this. They sold drinks and sausages, as well as tokens for the waterslide. VM students want to use the profits and donations from the day for Mr. Shelly to shave his beard, for a charity donation of his nomination. 

The success:

The atmosphere of the event was bright and cheerful, with a lot of students enjoying a lively time, where the older students could also connect with the younger students. The people at the venue were open to senior students’ planning, and were very helpful, additionally providing lifeguard services. The event had a lot of energy from the students and staff, leaving many satisfied and fulfilled with the event. VM students were pleased to hear feedback from their survey.  Thank you for helping them strive to make the next swimming carnival even better.

Congratulations to everyone that attended, and to the competitors. VM students hope you all had a good time. They hope to support a similar event soon, and a special thank you to all the staff that helped run and supervise the events.