Serpentine News 2008

The first Saturday after the rather busy Christmas morning race, saw a small group of swimmers race. There were no handicaps, but Mark Fabik took charge and initiated and organised three scratch races to please the swimmers.

Geoff Ranson won the Winter Series on a day that the water temp had climbed back up to 38F. Members were pleased to see Alan Titmus back at the Lido as well as Ron who has reportedly been secretly preparing for the Christmas Day race. We were also treated to visits from Cat and the Kelly family were over from Ireland with Sally going in for a swim while The Bearded One minded the children. Back from sunny Barbados, a tanned Club President, Eric Carter, was congratulated for successfully completing the Marathon in 4:40.

The Serps Swimming Club Christmas party went well. Do watch the two videos: VIDEO 1 --- VIDEO 2

Another drop, and water hit 37^oF!! This didn't deter the six full races of swimmers. Tony Cuthbert was selling tickets for the Serpentine Christamas Party, so make sure you get your tickets for the 13^th Decmber bash.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE RACES

The water really is getting nippy! 40^oF and quite biting. There were still a few hardy swimmers that pushed themselves and swam a kilometre!
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The cold snap took the water down to 43^oF, but the air temperature really made people hurt! There were 9 races, which has to be some sort of record.
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The water was a rather lovely 46^oF. The wind picked up a little after the first 4 races, but nothing the Serps swimmers couldn't handle. Alan Tittmus has not been well recently, and we were told that he is being looked after very well in hospital at the moment. We all wished him well, and hope that he can be back soon, and certainly before the Christmas Day race to make the marks as fair as possible!!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE RACES

All the swimmers were thankful that the water had risen in temperature to 47^oF. There were so many swimmers that 7 races were needed to get through them all! Ashwin came to present the prizes and cup for the Daily Telegraph Cup.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE RACES

The Serpentine went en masse to Tooting Bec Lido to enjoy the hospitality of the South London Swimming Club in the annual gala. The racing was fiercely competitive in both age groups, but the Serpentine swimmers won in the end. A wonderful spread was provided by the SLSC as usual. A wonderful morning, and we were lucky with the weather. The water was 46^oF.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE RACING
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE PRIZE GIVING

The water had taken a nasty drop, and was sitting at 44^oF. A few heroes swam a kilometre still, to keep themselves in the "Special K Challenge", where swimmers must complete a kilometre once a week throughout the year! There were several races that count towards the Winter Series.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

The morning weather was perfect for the two races that counted towards the 'Louis Schendler Bowl'. The water was a very pleasant 50^oF. In the first race, Cyril Wood went off fast, and was at the front for almost the entire race, only just fending off Anna McClarnon's attack. In the second race, Matt Ranson took advantage of another generous handicap to take victory and his third piece of silverware for the year. A lovely morning.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Swimmers competed for the Two Ronnies cup. The prizes were presented by Norman Jones, as Jones' Lucky Dip. There were two races: slower and then the faster swimmers. Robin Hunter-Coddington won the first, and Neil Price won the second. Robin was awarded the cup due to the result of a sealed handicap!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

The air temperature was far more comfortable, which made the swim more bearable. Swimmers were split into two races. The first race was won by Anna McAlpine, then came Tony Cuthbert and Geoff Rason. The second race was won by Sophie Rutenbar.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

The Cyril and Yvonne Wood Cup was won by Sam Baker. The water has become decidedly nippy and wintery. Officially it was 54^oF, but it felt colder.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

A report has come in from an event on 7^th Sept:
Recent swimming club member, Jackie Davies successfully competed in her first Ironman triathlon at the UK Ironman in Sherborne on 7 Sep 08, finishing in a time of 13:42:23hrs. She had an awesome swim, a great bike and a very painful run, but it was all in aid of the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association (BLESMA). To sponsor her, please follow the link www.justgiving.com/triathlonjack

The Club Biathlon was held. A 2 mile run was followed by a 880 yard swim. The Serpentine Swimming Club (SC) competed with the Serpentine Running Club (RC). Andrew Davis (RC) successfully defending his title to win the Biathlon yet again. David L'Hostis (SC) was second and Richard (RC) was 3rd but had to depart before the prize giving. Dierdre (SC) was 4th overall and the first lady with Kate (RC) 2nd lady and Sophie (SC) 3rd.

The All Clothes Race was well attended, with Paul Cooper narrolwy beating Cat Johnson to the win.

9 Serpentine members are training to do a channel relay between the 6^th and 13^th September. The team, made up of women from the ages of 25 to 65 (5 under 40 and 4 over 50), is attempting this crossing in support of Afghan Mother and Child Rescue(AMCR), a charity who’s director, Roddy Jones, is also a member of the Serpentine and a regular morning swimmer.

Afghan Mother and Child Rescue work alongside the Afghan Ministry of Public Health to reach women in remote areas of Afghanistan and provide them with safe and efficient maternity care. AMCR runs without middle men or committees and is solely funded by contributions.

The team:
Alice Constance, Clare Doyle, Martha Fray, Lorraine Jones, Anne MacAlpine-Leny, Maree Mitchell and reserves Olivia Brown, Leanne Harling and Sophie Rutenbar

Celebrities with the team:
Alice Constance, most recently completed Serpentine channel solo—and a fantastic time of 12 hours 36 minutes on 13 July
Leanne Harling (reserve) made a magnificent attempt on 15 August and got 4.5 nautical miles from France before the weather took over
Olivia Brown is making a solo attempt this Saturday if the weather holds up
Our Skipper is Alison Streeter, MBE, the England Channel Queen with a total of 43 completed solos and participation in 6 relay teams

YOU CAN DONATE ONLINE:
http://www.justgiving.com/annemacalpineleny

BY POST:
Send cheques made payable to "Afghan Mother and Child Rescue" to: Afghan Mother and Child Rescue, 128 Kensington Church Street, London W8 4BH, UK

It would be appreciated if those of you who pay tax would send the donation accompanied by a Gift Aid declaration (printable form - PDF) so we can reclaim your tax

Photos from Dover training:

Leanne Harling set off on a Channel swim to France at 10am in rather nice weather. She had the 'Dream Team' as support on the boat of Andy Deeley, Alice Constance, Conor 'Podge' Rowley and Cliff Golding. Sadly the weather took a very nasty turn for the worse. Ten boats gave up that day, and of those that did Leanne swam the longest and furthest; she battled away for 12 hours and got to within 4.5 nautical miles of France!!. 2 swimmers made it to France, one trying for a 2-way (but got out half way back) and a chaps from the SLSC called Tom. A very heroic swim from Leanne, and we all know that she has a Channel swim in her, and have our fingers crossed for better weather next time.

The River Nene Open Water Swimming Championships were competed in with all swimmers having a lovely swim. Well done to Jeremy Hunter for his organisation. The results:

Nick Adams was over in Jersey and got his swim done. He swam from Jersey to France in a time of 7 hours and 3 mins. The great weather allowed him to beat the record by 44 mins.

Loads of Serps swimmers headed down to the Solent for the annual Calshot Park swim. Some did 2km and others the 4km. Sakura Hingley won the whole event for a second year in a row. Norman Jones was 3rd in the mens 4k. Alan Titmuss won a bottle for being the oldest to finish, Ted Gerald looked too young and Brody forgot his wheel chair!

Emy won the Mile race and Catherine was second but had to depart before the prizes were awarded so no pic. Rosie presented "jumpers" to all the prize winners. Sam was third and looked quite fetching in his black number. 4th was Laura, 5th Andrew Deeley and 6th Theresa. Club President Eric Carter also offered congratulations on behalf of the club to Alice Constance on her successful channel swim which she completed in 12hours 36mins earlier in the week.

Alice Constance swam the English Channel in 12 hours 36 minutes. She started off at 6:46pm on the Sunday evening, and swam all the way through the night, finishing a mile north of Cap Gris Nez the following morning. There were plenty of Serps swimmers with her for her big day out. We are all very proud of her. Click here for the photos.

This was the final unhandicapped race of five in which points are earned towards the Club Championship. The race was an 880 yard dash, and Sakura Hingley was just beaten by Nick Adams who ended up with the Arthur Godfrey Club Championship Cup.

The S.S. & Chas. M.Greenbury Handicap race was moved to this day, instead of the Rosie George Cup as she didn't want her race to be competed for when there were so many people missing. Ron Whittam won, followed by Jessica Avery and then Andrew Burman.

The Glendower Cup was won by Gary Duffield in a time of 15:56 for the 880 yards. Second was taken by Sam Baker and third was Simon Studd.

A beautiful morning for the Radford Mile which was won by Norman Jones, 2nd was Alan Nash, 3rd Ted Gerrald, 4th Simon Studd, 5th Sam Baker and Yoko was in 6th with Gordon winning a boobie prize. Once again, Tony Radford and his family presented some wonderful prizes and we look forward to seeing them next year. Ron presented a Birthday gift to Rosie and we sang Happy Birthday to her and Mark Fabik as well. The water was 64^oF.

Andrew Allum (green hat below) invited swimmers from the Serps to come and swim in the part of the river he frequently swims in. HIs local knowledge was invaulable. We parked half the cars in the village of Hurley (near Henley) and drove the rest 5km away upstream. Had we broken down it would have looked very odd as we were all sat in the cars in our speedos as we needed our dry clothes at the finish!

The water was a bit nippier than the Serps, but was pleasantly clean. The Thames was flowing very fast in places which was excellent fun. The 5km course took us through some lovely countryside and took around an hour. We had to stop to be told off by an Environment Agency launch mid-swim, but as the law was on our side we were allowed to carry on.

It was a beautiful morning for the Bridgeman Team Relay races. There were three heats, with 3 teams in each. Then came the grand final, which was won by Duff Kelly, Sophie Rutenbar, Cyril Wood and Jon Tomlinson. The water was a very pleasant 62^oF and everyone seemed to enjoy pottering about. It was nice to see Sophie back after having been away ill for what seems an age. The prizes were presented by the Bridgeman family.

When we arrived early we found Ron the Con was in swimming early, and it was apparent that it was his race; exciting stuff. The race was very pleasant, but establishing the winner wasn't so easy! Claire was first to finish with Sam Baker second. However, it was noted that Claire had gone 20 seconds before her mark, but she was still given the win!

It was Conor Rowley's 18th Birthday, so he came along for a nice swim and cake before heading back to school for lessons! A lovely morning, so mnice that we saw Barny back at the Serps, and Bill Phipps dragged his son along for a dip.

This saturday saw us racing to win 'Maev's Rave' race. There was silverware on release so competition was fierce! Anne McApline won, with Alice Constance coming a close second. It was a beautiful morning, and some of the heroes of the Serps did 2km in the 54^oF water.

A glorious morning for Eric Carter's Quarter. Matt Ransom won the race, only just overtaking Emy in the last few metres.

The 4th Scratch race of the year was a 440 yard race. Nick Adams and Pim Kalisvaart were neck and neck most of the way, with Pim giving Nick the odd hug as his steering faltered. A good finish from Pim saw him take the win. The prizes were presented by Sally and Mike Olizar who were on top form.

It was a beautiful morning and Alan Lacy was joined by his daughter Jane and his grand daughter Flora to present the prizes for the dreaded 220yd Breaststroke race for the Clary Reed Cup. John Reed finished about 40 yards ahead of the field and later investigation revealed that when he asked another swimmer at the bulletin board to read what his mark was, he was inadvertently told the mark from the column for last week and had gone in too early. The actual winner was breaststroke specialist Mark Fabik who just pipped Brian Thomas at the finish. They were followed by Ann, Maria, Martin, Deirdre, and Robin (in his suspect suit) and the rest of the field. There were reports that several people appeared to be walking during portions of the race but it may just have been a trick of the sunlight. Bill Phipps did not place, but was awarded a special prize by Alan for being the "most deserving" which was a tribute to the Clary Reed "method" of handicapping. Club President Eric Carter presented a bottle of champagne to Alan Lacy in celebration of his 60 years in the club and everyone joined in singing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow". We also wished Anthony Cleaver a Happy Birthday and Jenny presented him a splendid lemon cake with strawberry jam which he duly shared with everyone. Additionally, Deirdre's parents came over from Ireland to watch her run the London Marathon tomorrow and her mum was brave enough to go in for a swim after the race!

Simon Studd entertained Guiyan Zhang at the Serps. The both had a nice swim in the snow!

The Bill and Ron Maggs Memorial Race was won by Neil Price. The water had jumped to 50^oF, but the wind was bitter. There were loads of competitors in the 220 yard race.

Two heats were held for the Dave Holiday Furlong - a Scratch 220. In the first heat, Robin came through strong on the second hundred to win, just beating Brian Thomas. Sam, who was well out front on the first leg, came in third and Maria was 4th. In the second heat, Pim led from the start and finished 1st with Alice coming in second, Neil third and Norman 4th. We were also entertained by a group of 20-30 lads out on a stag due going in and doing a 100. Dave Holiday presented the prizes.

A lovely morning saw two races, both scratch races. The water was 44^oF and there was a healthy turn out. In the first race it was very tight at the front the whole way with Pim from the Neathelands just being beaten by Nick Adams at the end of the 110 yards.

Bad sportsmanship seems to be catching! After Peter Larrad won his race last week, Bill Deeley thought he'd do the same in his race!!! Luckily he was just beaten on the line. A lovely morning with a balmy 41^oF in the Serps.

The water was 38^oC and quite nippy. A lovely clear morning for the three scratch races. The first was won by Peter Larrad, which is terribly bad form as he was the sponsor of the races! The second and third were won by Sakura Hingley and Nick Adams respectively. Sakura Hingley was sporting the prototype new Serps Girls swimsuit, please send your orders to her by email.

At 7.00 am on a fine and misty Monday morning the Serps was invaded by the Russians (and Latvians) led by our very own Moscow Serps member Antonina Frolenkova. Having participated in the Cold Water swimming championships over the previous weekend the group numbering nearly 30 paid a welcome visit to meet the Serps and see where we swim. They swam, had races with the Serps members, played tourist and presented a commemorative cup to the club plus certificates for everyone present.

The water was incredibly flat, and 39^oF. The air was quite nippy, but everyone seemed to find the water tollerable. Rather stupidly, Nick Adams some how managed to win his race.

A number of Serps swimmers headed down to Brighton for a sea swim. The water was 7.6^oC and a few swimmers pushed it a little far and got rather bad shivers/shudders!!

A number of the Serps swimmers went on a pond crawl, starting at the Serps then off to the Highgate Mens' Swimming Pond and Kenwood Ladies' Swimming Pond and finally to the Hackney Fields Lido.