Staines schoolboy and his amazing memory

Jul 7 2009 By Mark Goode, Staines News

Thomas Lynch

NOT every mother can say that her son has one of the best memories in Britain.

But Tina Lynch, of Lansdowne Road, Staines, can. Her 12-year-old son Thomas is in the top 10 out of 1,700 pupils from across the country who entered the UK Memory Championships.

On Tuesday his family drove him up to Northampton for the final. There, he and 99 others were to be tested on how many words, numbers and dates they can memorise in a set time.

Mrs Lynch said: "When he was two he could memorise the signs on cars, so if I pointed to a car, he would be able to tell me it was a Jaguar. He had a good memory before he could read. And he also learnt how to play the guitar in a week."

Two months ago Matthew Arnold School, where Thomas is a pupil, picked about 30 children to take preliminary tests, along with 60 other schools in the country.

The children were scored on how many items they could remember in five different categories. The national average was 258 points, while Matthew Arnold pupils averaged 330.

Thomas, however, scored 704, and is the only Matthew Arnold pupil to progress to the national competition.

He said: "I don't expect to win but it is really fun. People have been coming up to me in school, and everyone seems to know. Normally if I do well in things, people would say 'what a geek', but not this time."

Tom said he has mostly been practising learning dates, because they earn the most points, but words are his speciality.

Sarah Ward, head of creative arts at the school, has been holding after-school classes for Thomas. She plans to teach the memory techniques to other teachers, believing they might help pupils with revision and homework.