The Plunge Cup is a tiny and intriguing Tribe/House trophy, standing at just four inches (10cm) high, and according to the engravings, was competed for by the boys from 1954 to 1965. When asked to investigate, I had no idea what ‘the plunge’ was. It sounded like a competition that might run at a country prep with a gentle river running through it, where children jumped into the river and raced to the first bridge or a competition that involved jumping from a high diving board.

My investigation discovered a mention of it in the swimming section of the 1957 Autumn School Magazine. As it turns out, The Plunge had proved to be ‘particularly interesting that year’, with a pupil named Chappell achieving the winning distance of 41 feet 6 inches, which was only a foot off the school record. Mohicans were the cup winners that year. My curiosity deepened as the context of a modern distance of 12.65m in water as an achievement was hard to fathom, being about half the length of the current school pool.

Swimming certainly wasn’t one of my interests when I was young. I found that many younger people and even competitive swimmers had never heard of ‘the plunge’. Finally, I found someone who knew about ‘The Plunge for Distance’ and had competed at her school many years ago. Some online research was needed!

‘The Plunge for Distance’ is done from a standing dive at 18 inches (46cm) above the water. Once the competitor hits the water, they have to keep their body perfectly still and are not allowed to move a muscle or propel themselves in any way. The winner is the diver who completes the longest distance in one minute or before their head surfaces above water, whichever comes first. It was a staple event at any swimming competition of the time and was an Olympic sport at the Paris Olympics in 1904. Three Americans took the medals, with William Dickey winning gold, reaching 62 feet 6 inches. However, it never returned as an Olympic event. The world record remains at an impressive distance of 86 feet 8 inches (26.416m), set by the English swimmer Francis Parrington in 1933, smashing his own record at the time.

The popularity of ‘The Plunge for Distance’ was at its height in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but has since had the dubious honour of being called the ‘lamest’, ‘dullest’ and ‘most boring’ Olympic event of all time. It caused friction in the swimming fraternity as there was no athleticism involved.

We are unsure where our school’s Plunge trophy originated. Perhaps it was donated by parents or a keen member of staff who introduced the competition? Records show it was a Tribe trophy competition, but there were also Junior and Senior Plunge winners. I assume that a certain number of boys from each Tribe entered ‘The Plunge’ at the Swimming Gala and that the combined totals led to the Tribe result. I can only imagine that there must have been strict judging to ensure there was no propulsion in any way, and I envision a rope or line across the pool carried by staff just ahead of the floating contestant with stopwatches in hand. I’m unsure whether it raised the roof with crowd excitement, but it’s a wonderful part of the Prep’s past sporting history.