Officer Cadets at Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) have narrowly beaten their counterparts from RAF Cranwell to become the winners of the Inter-Collegiate games.
Around 150 competitors took part in the event, held at BRNC, with teams going head-to-head in seven sports.
In a hard fought competition the RAF were victorious in the volleyball and water polo beating BRNC by two games to three in volleyball and by six points to seven in water polo.
BRNC showed their superiority on the football pitch and rugby field, winning the football by four goals to one and rugby by 29 points to nil.
In the tug-of-war competition BRNC started well, winning the first two ‘pulls’, but the RAF team came back strong to take the next three ‘pulls’.
The games also featured a one kilometre gig race on the River Dart – a completely new event for the RAF team.
Overall event organiser, Petty Officer (PO) Howard Peplow said: “Leading Physical Training Instructor Sarah Rushton, BRNC’s gig team trainer, was tasked to introduce the RAF team to the sport for an hour or so before the actual race, with assistance from the BRNC crew.
“Our crew eventually won the race by near on two and a half minutes and then went on to compete in a regatta in Plymouth.”
With honours even everything rested on the last event; the eight discipline ‘Superstars’ competition, which BRNC won by one minute 30 seconds to become the overall winners.
PO Peplow said: “The whole event was a huge success. The competitiveness and fitness levels were very high, but the fact that our Cadets undergo disciplined sessions, known as Initial Military Fitness, showed in the final Superstars event.
“It was great for the two Colleges to meet and both sets of Cadets will now go through their whole careers hopefully with an appreciation of each other’s training and lots of good memories.”
The games were hosted by BRNC’s PT department and also included a social when the two sets of Officer Cadets could swap experiences of their training.
BRNC plan to visit RAF Cranwell next year for the return fixture, which will also mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the RAF College.
