Student 

Achievements

2021 College Swimming and Diving Team Report 

Monash Division Championships 

On the Thursday 4th March, swimmers from WHSC competed at Kilsyth in the Monash Division Championships. We all swam our hearts out, giving it our best to do well for the school and while we did not win any overall awards, some of our swimmers won their swimming events and went on to represent the College at Regionals.  

As the Swimming Captains, we are very proud and happy with everyone’s effort on the day and are looking forward to seeing their motivation and determination to do well next time. Thank you to everyone who came on the day! 

Results of the day were: 

Overall Swimming Championship – 3rd place 

Overall Swimming Aggregate – 2nd place 

Junior Swimming Championship – 2nd place 

Intermediate Swimming Championship – 2nd place 

Senior Swimming Championship – 4th place 

Makayla Larkin – 14Yr Monash Division Age Group Champion 

Brady Thomassen - 16Yr Monash Division Age Group Champion 

New Monash Division Records 

Brady Thomassen   20Yr 100m Backstroke    1.15.46 

Makayla Larkin        15Yr 200m Freestyle       2.29.73 

Makayla Larkin        20Yr 100m Backstroke    1.14.16 

Makayla Larkin        14Yr 50m Backstroke        35.21 

Makayla Larkin        200m Indiv Medley           2.47.31       

Brady Thomassen & Kara O’Gorman – Swimming Captains 

Eastern Metropolitan Region Swimming Championships 

Congratulations to the following students who represented WHSC at the EMR Swimming Championships.  These students had previously won their respective events at Monash Division level, which was a wonderful achievement. 

Makayla Larkin Gold Medal 14Yr 50 Backstroke 34.31 

Silver Medal 15Yr 200 Freestyle 2.21.59 

Silver Medal 14Yr 50 Butterfly 33.33 

Silver Medal 20Yr 100 Backstroke 1.14.20 

Silver Medal 15Yr 200 Ind Medley 2.44.39 

Brady Thomassen Silver Medal 20Yr 100 Backstroke 1.06.59 

Bronze Medal 20Yr 200 Freestyle 2.12.39 

4th place 16Yr 50 Butterfly 29.85 

4th place 16Yr 50 Freestyle 27.52 

4th place 16Yr 50 Backstroke 32.13 

Shay Coxhead 6th place 15Yr 100 Freestyle 1.22.30 

9th place 14Yr 50 Freestyle 36.47 

Lachlan Palmer Bronze Medal 17Yr 4x50 Freestyle Relay 2.08.19 

Casey Huybens 

Blake Smith 

Brady Thomassen 

Jasmine Hamilton 5th place 15Yr 4x50 Freestyle Relay 2.34.52 

Grace Alexander 

Jessica Saunders 

Kristen Swartz 

Emma Neal 6th place 14Yr 4x50 Medley Relay 2.55.08 

Shay Coxhead 

Makayla Larkin 

Caitlyn Nguyen 

Emma Neal 6th place 14Yr 4x50 Freestyle Relay 2.32.71 

Shay Coxhead 

Makayla Larkin 

Caitlyn Nguyen 

SSV State Swimming Championships 

An enormous congratulations to Makayla Larkin (Year 8) who represented the College at the SSV State Swimming Championships. Makayla was awarded 4th place in the 14Yr 50m Backstroke with a time of 34.72 seconds. It is an outstanding achievement to compete at this level.     

Eastern Metropolitan Region & State Diving Championships 

Eight students represented WHSC at the SSV Regional Diving Competition. These students actively participated in diving clinics and took the opportunity to get some feedback/advice from current diving coaches.  

Elai Butcher 13-14Yr Gold Medal 

Sonny Stainthorpe 13-14Yr Silver Medal 

Caitlyn Nguyen 13-14Yr 4th place 

Jordy Pignolet 13-14Yr 7th place 

Jasmine Hamilton 15-16Yr Silver Medal 

Brandon Nguyen 17-20Yr Gold Medal 

Jackson Steele 17-20Yr Silver Medal 

Nicola Himbury 17-20Yr Bronze Medal  

The State Diving Championships were held later in the day. The students competed exceptionally well and achieved outstanding results. 

Elai Butcher 13-14Yr Silver Medal 

Sonny Stainthorpe 13-14Yr 4th place 

Caitlyn Nguyen 13-14Yr 7th place 

Jasmine Hamilton 15-16Yr 9th place 

Brandon Nguyen 17-20Yr Silver Medal 

Jackson Steele 17-20Yr Bronze Medal 

Nicola Himbury 17-20Yr Bronze Medal  

A huge congratulations to all swimmers and divers from the WHSC community. We would also like to thank Brady Thomassen, Kara O’Gorman, Liam Kelly and Brandon Nguyen for their work as ‘Swimming & Diving Captains’. Their effort was much appreciated. 

Finally, we would like to recognise Dennis Quach (Year 12) for 6 years of outstanding service to the College Swimming team. We will miss his enthusiasm and ‘Butterfly’ ability.  

Kerrie Lay & Sally Pryde 

Sport Coordinators 

ACE Escape Room Project 

Throughout Term 1 and the start of Term 2, our 2021 Year 7 ACE class has been using the ‘Design Thinking’ process to develop their own ‘Escape Rooms’. This challenging project has required students to work collaboratively to establish their own puzzles that also provide an insight into one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  Students worked through the Stanford Design Thinking process through: 

• Empathising through a real ‘Escape Room’ at EscapeXperience 
• Defining the problem through research into the UN Sustainable Development Goals 
• Ideating through the support of the Monash Tech School Program 
• Prototyping through crafty puzzles and 3D printing 
• Testing their ‘Escape Rooms’ on each other 

The students have been very proud of their ‘Escape Room’ projects and have grown significantly from their experiences as can be seen below: 

“I really like getting to collaborate with my peers and getting to combine all our great ideas and making it 1 big idea. I think my collaboration really improved because I had to listen to others' ideas, and we all had to work together. I am so excited to see everything come together and see our other classmates and parents try it out!” 

                                                                                                                             Mia, Yr. 7 student 

“I enjoy being able to learn and experience new and exciting things whilst being with my friends. I can’t wait to see my groups finished escape room and how cool it will look. I loved visiting Monash Tech School and visiting a real ‘Escape Room’.” 

                                                                                                                              Zoe, Yr. 7 student

“I have really enjoyed being able to pick a theme to do with one of the UN sustainability goals and be able to be creative with it. We were able to be very creative because we had a lot of time to plan, and we had a lot of resources. Having to use tinker CAD stretched my knowledge and I found you have to be very precise with it. I have learnt a lot more about the UN goal of life under water and about their key areas of focus. I am excited for our families to come and try to escape!” 

                                                                                                               Amyliah, Yr. 7 student

The final test will be the running of the student ‘Escape Rooms’ in our Parent Expo Nighton Tuesday 18th May.