­ALTHOUGH pupils from St Petroc’s School in Bude are used to taking part in fixtures all over Cornwall and Devon, sometimes they go further afield to compete.

Last week saw one such occasion when 12 pupils represented the school at the ISA South West Swimming Trials in Sherborne, hoping for the chance to qualify for the finals at the Olympic pool in London in the New Year!

The pupils had a really enjoyable and rewarding day. The headmaster, Daniel Thornburn, said: “This is an annual fixture for the school and we are delighted that, once again, our pupils have shown that they have the confidence and ability to compete against other schools in this region at this level. While we know that some of our swimmers were very successful in their heats, we still have to wait and see if any have qualified for the nationals after Christmas!”

Sport is a major strength of St Petroc’s and all pupils from Reception upwards have swimming lessons each week at the local pool, with the opportunity of surfing lessons for the older pupils when they reach Year 3. The school has some very talented young swimmers who, despite winning heats, will not be able to swim at the nationals until they are a year older — watch out in a year’s time!