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The Queen's Club 7 -14 July 2012
For full information visit the event website www.quintathlon2012.com
In 1976 a handful of rackets players from both sides of the Atlantic decided to get together to play each other at a few ball games. It started with a visit to the Olympic city of Montreal in 1976, when the ‘British Olympic Quadrathlon Team’ captained by David Norman prevailed in a three-way match between Canada, the UK, and the USA. The event was in those days known as the Quadrathlon, there being no real tennis court in Montreal.
Since 1976 this increasingly popular event has flipped to and fro across the pond, expanded to include real tennis, and thereby become the Quintathlon. As well as being a thoroughly enjoyable week in which to take part, for 35 years the Quintathlon has been a solid rock underpinning the relationship between all the world’s rackets–playing clubs, to this day ensuring very close ties between the seven NARA clubs [Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, and Tuxedo] and the seventeen UK clubs [Manchester, Queen’s, Seacourt, and 14 schools]. Rackets may be a small world but it is also a very close and sociable one, and the game continues to thrive.
In July 2012 the Sixth Quintathlon will be held at Queen’s. About 50 Brits and 50 visitors, mainly North Americans but hopefully some Australians and maybe some French players, will get together for a week to play each other in pairs at rackets, real tennis, lawn tennis, squash, golf, and a mystery game, the rules of which are announced just before it takes place.
It is a titanic struggle of sportsmanship, and in some cases an even greater struggle to survive the social events which are held on most nights. These days there are two teams rather than three, and they are of mixed nationalities, the idea being to have close competition all week building up to the mystery game on the final day.
ENGLAND EXPECTS! WELCOME TO THE SPORTING HIGHTLIGHT OF 2012!
Although every Quintathlete must play all four court games (golf is in fact optional), the standard of play varies, with pairings constructed to ensure competitive games. Anyone who would like to join in but who hasn’t yet played rackets could, with a modicum of ball skill, get up to speed in time for next summer, especially with some expert coaching from Howard Angus or Ben Snell in the Pro Office.
For further information, to talk to us, or to register interest if you might want to play or buy a Social ticket may we direct you to www.quintathlon2012.com Play!
Mark Agate, Chairman of Queen’s Club Rackets Committee
Andrew Stewart, CEO of Queen’s Club
Mark and Andrew are Co-Chairmen of the 2012 Quintathlon Committee, which also contains James Coyne, Oli Harris, Anthony Jenks, William Maltby, John Prenn, Guy Smith-Bingham, James Walton and Dominic Wright