CELEBRATIONS for the Queen Elizabeth School's 40th anniversary got off to a flying start recently with the annual swimming gala at Lai Chi Kok swimming pool. 'This is the first of a series of celebrations for the big occasion,' Principal Chan Ping-tat said. 'I am extremely pleased with the students' active participation and their management of the gala under the teachers' supervision,' he added. The two-day event saw eight records tumble as a result of fierce competition. 'The regular training provided by the school has paid off, physical education teacher Leung Fung-ying said. The school, however, suffered a heavy loss as triple gold medallist Chau Suet-ming left Hong Kong after setting three new records. Third-former Suet-ming of North House took the Grade C 50 m and 100 m breaststroke in 43.6 seconds and 1 minute 36.8 sec respectively. Earlier, she won the 25 m freestyle in 14.5 sec. In the girls' Grade A 50 m breaststroke, Mak Ho-yan (S7B) just held off Chan Nga-yu's (S6B) challenge to win the race in 50.8 sec. Nga-yu, however, avenged her defeat by winning the 100 m breaststroke in 1 min 51.8 sec. She went on to take the 200 m breaststroke comfortably in 4 min 0.09 sec. and thereby won the Grade A individual champion. The thrilling finish to the boys' Grade A 50 m freestyle was the centre of attraction. Tong Chi-ping (S5A) narrowly beat 100 m gold medallist Hong Chung-tak (S6C) in 32 sec. Seventh former Lam Yik of South House dominated the boys' Grade A 100 m and 200 m breaststroke and took the gold in 1 min 33.4 sec and 3 min 32.2 sec respectively. Despite being beaten in the 50 m, he won the grade A individual championship. The invitation 4 x 50 m relays drove the students into a frenzy as Queen's College and Heep Yunn School won the boys' and girls' championships in respective record times of 1 min 58.2 sec and 2 min 8.2 sec. It was double delight for North House as they won the overall championship and the best cheering team award. Principal Chan and Philip Tong, chairman of Old Students' Association presented the prizes to the winners.
