For this school year, year 11 student Tommy
Hodgkins gained a coveted place - one of only
30 - in the National Youth Dance Company at
Sadlers Wells in London. Tommy was one of over
500 applicants, and was accepted a year early,
aged only 15, with 16 being the usual entry age.
In the first regional round, he was unanimously
selected by the panel to be put forward for
the national audition. Now he is attending
residencies, with public performances, in the
school holidays and taking part in a nationwide
tour in the summer.
Tommy (left) with his friend Folu in their first NYDC residency
Tommy Hodgkins
dancer
NYDC has been one of the most life-changing
experiences of my life.
We eat, breathe and speak dance - every day. It is beautiful.
It has taught me not only to be a better dancer, but also a stronger person.
You learn a lot about yourself when you do twelve hour days, seven days a week, doing a physical, expressive art form.
Page 3
In recent weeks, year 12 student Matt Swiss, of Dart Totnes Amateur Rowing
Club, has been making his presence felt in the sport of rowing when competing
in some BIG regattas.
In the National Schools Regatta in Nottingham - the biggest regatta for Juniors
(years 7–13) on the British Rowing calendar - he recorded the fastest time in the
J17 time-trial and then won the silver medal in the final! His coach said:
This was
a great achievement by Matt, as last year he came 7th and now he has finished
2nd, which shows how much he has improved over the last year. In the J18 event
he was ‘racing-up’ a year and got through to the semi-final – hoping to return
next year to have a go at winning this event.
Next came the London Metropolitan Amateur Regatta at Eaton Dorney (venue
for the London 2012 Olympics rowing events) - open to all age groups, and one
of the bigger regattas on the British Rowing calendar. He competed in his first
senior competitive event (IM3) and came third in the final. In the J18 event, he
took complete control and lead the race to the finish, pretty much unfazed by
his opposition and winning by over 6 seconds. The conditions were not that great
and the water was a little choppy – no problem for Matt, as he is used to the
windy conditions of the West Country!
Matt has now won his first regatta category this year and, after the weekend, he said:
I am happy with the weekend's
results as, in IM3, you can have a whole range of talents but who you get drawn against is a lottery, so I am happy to
Matt Swiss
~ continues to perform at the highest level!
Student Achievement
Lewis, in year 8, has just competed at the National
Tumbling semi-finals in Peterborough, where he
achieved the bronze medal, so he will be competing
in Telford in the National Finals in July.
Tumbling is a very difficult routine which involves
running and then performing various flicks, twists
andtuckbacks.Lewis hasbeendoinggymnasticsfor
ten years and has competed at many competitions
in both artistic gymnastics and tumbling. He is very
committed to gymnastics, and is now training to be
a coach at his club, Torbay Gymnastics.
Lewis Dennis ~ success
in gymnastics
come out with third place. Victory
in the Open J18 event was a good
result and hopefully I will return
and do the same next year.
Matt’s
focus can now return to the Final
Trial for the GB Junior team at
the National Watersports Centre
in July. This is to compete for a
place to represent Great Britain
at either the Junior World
Championships in Brazil, or the
Coupe de la Jeunesse in Hungary.
Matt is hoping that his intensive,
six days a week, winter training
programme will pay dividends and
he will win his GB Rowing Vest!
