Photos by Leo Mak and Patrick Leung
Reported by Alex Tsui
Courtesy of the Editorial Board (99-2000)

Spirited Josephians. Powerful cheers. Splashes of water. Fluttering of flags. All these best capture the ambience of the Inter-school Swimming Gala which was held on 15th October 1999 at the Kowloon Park Indoor Swimming Pool. In actuality, there were two competitions, one between the swimmers and the other between the cheering teams. It was, indeed, a day unforgotten.

At around eight o'clock, our professional swimmers and spirited cheering team members had already arrived at the Park, lining themselves up at the open area just outside the pool. Led by the cheering team leaders, the one hundred and fifty members soon marched into the building, packing the middle section of the spectators' stage and preparing themselves for the oncoming event. "Give them a strike!" With this powerful slogan, our cheering team literally sent the whole place shaking, notifying everyone of the presence of St. Joseph's!

The morning session started at around nine, beginning with the heats. Prior to the start of each event, the leaders gave detailed instructions as to how the slogans were to be shouted and which lanes our swimmers were in. Upon hearing each signal all participating swimmers dived into the water and the whole cheering team started shouting, singing and clapping "O Le, O Le, O Le, O Le. Saint Joe! Saint Joe!". At the last twenty-five metres of each race, the cheers took on a rapid pace. "Saint Joe! Saint Joe! Saint Joe!" Even among the cheering teams of different schools, an intense competition was brewing. 

The heats posed no threat to our well-trained swimmers. Fully reflecting the success of months of swimming practices, our swimmers demonstrated their strength, speed and skills, obtaining impressive results. After a series of heats, our top-notched swimming team was already in line with the competitive teams from other schools.

Following a small lunch break, the finals began, yet the enthusiasm of our cheering team members had not diminished in any way. "Josephians, King of the Pool! Josephians, we love our school! Josephians, we all support you!" Our swimmers were highly encouraged by the spirits-lifting slogans. Realizing, however, that we were only a few points behind for obtaining championships, our swimmers once again started to perform their best for the afternoon events. "SJC, best of best! SJC, beat the rest!" Our slogans reached every inch of the indoor pool complex. 

Even after shouting for such a long time, the cheering team showed no signs of running out of breath. As the events rolled on, more and more old boys came to our support and were enthusiastically welcomed with cheers and rounds of applause. Many of our students also came to support us after school had ended, despite having to face the CE's or the A-Level's. Josephians past and present alike were united in one mind and heart. Our school flags fluttered in the air; our school rally resonanced in the air; our Josephian Spirit, too, had filled the air. It was a truly memorable moment.

After a series of intense competition among the swimmers, the climax of the day finally came - the Boys' Relay. "SJC, born to swim! SJC, born to win! SJC, born to conquer born to win!" "Who is the winner? SJC! Who is the champion? SJC! We are the winners! We are the champions! Yes!" Exhausting their breaths, crying out slogans after slogans, all Josephians were at the peak of their emotions eyes fixed on the pool during the whole race. 

Our A Grade demonstrated their excellence in many events. We broke records in 50m freestyle (Fu Wing), 50m breaststroke (Li Cheuk Lun), 4x50m freestyle relay and 4x50m medley relay. This year, our A Grade team became the overall champion. Second runners-up went to our B and C Grade teams. Finally, we captured the overall second runner-up of the competition.

After the prize-giving ceremony, the cheering teams of our school and that of La Salle College congratulated each other once again with slogans. "La Salle brothers support you!" 
Everyone then gathered outside the pool complex. Our principal, Rev. Brother Thomas, cheering team and swimming team leaders, Mr. W.K. Cheung and Mr. Laurence Tsui took turns addressing the group and thanking all Josephians for their support. Finally, the whole group shouted out the slogans once again and as the sound of the slogans gradually abated, the Inter-School Swimming Competition finally came to an end.