Summer sporting success

This summer, Canfordians achieved outstanding success across a wide range of sports, including...

Rowing

OC Imy Woodcock D23

Huge congratulations to Old Canfordian Imy Woodcock D23, who has returned from Canada with a silver medal after representing Great Britain Students at the FISU World University Rowing Championships. Imy was selected as the cox for the Men’s Eight, joining a squad of 28 student athletes selected to race nine boats at the Championships in London, Ontario. 

Imy was a talented and dedicated cox during her time at Canford, helping the school’s rowing programme to success and winning bronze at the National Schools Regatta in 2022. She left Canford in 2023 to study at Newcastle University, where she has continued to develop as a cox and has established herself as an important member of the Newcastle University Boat Club. Earlier this year, Imy reached the final of the prestigious Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, before being selected to represent GB students on the international stage.

At the FISU World University Rowing Championships, Imy and her crew progressed through the competition to secure a fantastic silver medal in the Men’s Eight, racing against university crews from around the world. It is a superb achievement and a fitting reward for the hard work and commitment Imy has shown since her days on the river at Canford.

Everyone at Canford sends Imy our warmest congratulations on this outstanding international achievement and wishes her continued success in her rowing career!

OC Freya Coupe L26

Huge congratulations to OC Freya Coupe L26, who has medalled for the second year in a row as part of the Great Britain U19 Women’s Eight. In 2025, Freya helped the crew to gold at the U19 World Rowing Championships in Trakai, Lithuania, and this year she returned to the boat for the 2026 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Great Britain travelled to the Championships with a 42 strong team of athletes, taking on the very best young rowers from around the world, with Freya and the Women’s Eight once again securing a place on the podium.

Freya, who came to rowing from a swimming background, has enjoyed an incredible sporting journey during her five years at Canford. Alongside her international success, she won the Girls’ 2,000m at the 2025 British Rowing Indoor Championships in an impressive time of 7:09.7.

We have loved following Freya’s journey during her time at Canford and are incredibly proud of everything she has achieved. Now, she is heading across the pond to take on her next challenge at the University of Texas, where she has secured a rowing scholarship. We can’t wait to see the incredible achievements that lie ahead for this talented OC.

Freya will be joined in the US by fellow leaver Maddie Woodcock (Imy’s sister) who has joined the Kansas University Rowing programme.

Cricket

After an excellent Canford season, many our current male and female cricketers have also been excelling in both representative (Hampshire and Dorset) and club cricket over the summer as they look to follow in some of our illustrious OCs footsteps. Their performances have included centuries and outstanding bowling figures at County level for several boys and girls and also appearances in National Club finals for others, showing both the quality of the cricket and the cricketers currently at Canford This summer has also seen Hampshire regularly fielding a Men’s 1st XI in all formats containing 3 OC’s in Eddie Jack, Tom Prest and Felix Organ which is an amazing achievement for the school. All three continue to show their talents at a high level and show what is possible for Canford pupils to achieve.

Rugby

The end of the summer months saw L6 Ivo R and U6 Lex V representing Bath Academy at the Malvern Festival. It was a successful week and saw Lex then playing in the first three NextGen Prem Academy League fixtures. Following various trials and selections they are also joined in the Bath pathway by Will H (U17s), Indi W and Oscar P (U16s) and Alex H, Sam C-W, Baxter H and Jonty W (U15s). August also saw the Rugby Club have an excellent pre-season training camp at Canford despite the challenging pitch conditions all are facing at present. Relationships were enhanced and some quality time was utilised in improving the groups both tactically and technically. We look forward to getting the rugby fixture underway.

Hockey

A group of approximately 30 girls spent two days at Canford for pre-season training which included practice matches against the likes of Wells Cathedral, Sherborne, Bryanston and KES Southampton for the Seniors and Juniors in preparation for the new season. The teams, including the Shells, will continue their start to the season with either fixtures this forthcoming weekend at the Sherborne Invitational or versus Taunton School. In terms of inspiration for the girls, it has been great to follow the progress of the England Hockey Teams in the recent World Cup in Belgium and Holland. Special congratulations go to England and GB player and OC Martha Taylor who brought up her 50th Cap during the tournament. We also wish good luck to Penny Dirou as she heads to St. Louis University on a Hockey scholarship.