Trinity Grammar crowned club trivia champions

Image (L-R): Trinity Grammar Headmaster, Tim Bowden, Director of Swimming, Ben Tuxford and Swimming NSW CEO, Mark Heathcote

Trinity Grammar has proved it is a force to be reckoned with both inside and outside of the pool after it outsmarted its club rivals to claim victory in Swimming NSW’s inaugural Insta Live Trivia Challenge.

Yesterday, Swimming NSW CEO, Mark Heathcote, presented the coveted 'Cool Chris Cup' (Chris Fydler Cup) and winner’s certificate to Trinity Grammar Headmaster, Tim Bowden, and Director of Swimming, Ben Tuxford, at the school’s campus. 

Mr Tuxford commended the organisation’s efforts to keep the state’s swimming community connected and engaged with each other and the sport via the ‘Covid-safe competition’.

“It was a very fun way to have the team connect during the isolation period, whilst also providing them a very small taste of team competition - albeit without getting their hair wet,” Mr Tuxford said.

“We thank Mr Heathcote and his organisation for keeping our swimmers engaged with their peers and sport during the COVID closure.”

Mr Heathcote congratulated the club on their victory and thanked all teams and players for their part in making the online competition a success.

“Congratulations to Trinity Grammar - a well-deserved win that was hard-fought over four challenging weeks. The club consistently showed up in force each week and has taken home the trophy as a result. A great team effort!” Mr Heathcote said.

“And, a big thank you to all the clubs and athletes who took part in our challenge. The last few months haven’t been easy and we know that our community was deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden shutdown of our sport. We hope that this competition has helped to break the boredom of isolation and brought some fun to your Friday evenings – at least for a few weeks – and importantly, given all our club members a way to continue to feel connected with each other and their sport during this difficult time.

“Finally, I want to make special mention of our host, Lachlan Vane-Tempest, and producer, Luke Bibby for their entertaining commentary and management of the challenge.”

The competition, which was held over four consecutive Friday evenings in April/May, featured bonus rounds, mega points and themed trivia topics, as well as guest appearances by some well-known swimming personalities, including Olympic and Paralympic champions Matt Wilson, Tiffany Thomas-Kane, Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Ella June Jones, Jayden Hadler and Taylor Corry. Not be left out, Neil Rogers, Ariel Darley and Dave Cooper also joined in to fly the flag for the technical officials, while Bobby Hurley, Ben Tuxford and Darren Howard ensured the coaches were well-represented.

However, despite some mighty individual contributions to the leader board, Trinity Grammar’s collective power proved too strong for the rest of the competition.

Here’s how it all played out…

Over four thrilling weeks, Instagram became the temporary battleground for clubs going head-to-head in a test of their swimming knowledge, with questions that spanned the full spectrum of swimming trivia – from the very first Olympics in 1896 to the next Commonwealth Games scheduled for 2022.

For much of the competition, it could have been anyone’s game. Warringah took an early lead in the first two weeks, while Nepean steadily inched closer to the top of the leader board with each round. Loreto Normanhurst, staying within the top three and in contention for the top spot throughout the duration of the challenge, always looked poised for finals glory. But it was Trinity Grammar who came through strong in the end, holding onto to their narrow lead after week 3 to claim overall victory in the Grand Final on Friday, 15 May.

Final leader board

Relive the fun with this package of highlights