Friday 25th December

The ice that nearly covered the lake on Thursday disappeared, as if by magic, overnight. The water registered 32F. The distance was 100 yards, and was won by Gary Duffield. Click here for the coverage in the media: Sky News Footage -- Daily Telegraph -- Daily Mail -- Daily Express -- ABC Network

Thursday 24th December

Club Secretary Brian Thomas was interviewed about the Christmas Day race on the "Today Programme" on BBC Radio 4. CLICK HERE and scroll to 08:20 to listen to the interview.

Tuesday 22nd December

CLICK HERE to see the Daily Mail article about the Serpentine Swimming Club

Tuesday 22nd December

The water was really very cold. The searing pain in the hands and fingers was the most commented upon factor!! Water was obviously at 0 celcius or below!

Saturday 19th December

Robin Hunter-Coddington won the 2009 Winter Series. It was great to have both Duff and Bob Kelly at the Serps to present the prizes.

Saturday 12th December

Once again it was time for the members of the Serps to flaunt their various talents at the Christmas Party. A wonderful evening, with fine food, booze, company and entertainment. Sorry about the number of clips below, but there was so much that we needed to capture on film!!!! ENJOY!!!

Saturday 12th December

This was the penultimate week of the Winter Series. The water was the same temperature, but the air was cold.

Saturday 5th December

The sixth week of the Winter Series saw the water drop to a rather nippy 38F!! Despite the cold water, the whole swimming experience wasn't too grim as it was a mild, and beautifully crisp morning.

Saturday 28th November

This was the fifth week of the Winter Series races. The water had dropped to 41F Some were still swimming a km!!!!

Saturday 21st November

This was the fourth week of the Winter Series races. We were also joined by a mass of 'Lido Crawlers' from the SLSC. Water was 45F.

Wednesday 18th November

Alan Titmuss's obituary was in The Times. Click here to see it

Saturday 14th November

The water had only dropped to 44F. The weather was not ideal. Torential rain with the occasional sunny spell!

Sunday 8th November

A large number of the Serps swimmers headed down to Tooting Bec lido to compete in the annual gala against the South London Swimming Club. The lido was slightly warmer that the Serps, but home advantage gave them the edge and enabled them to get the cup back off us this year. We will have to ensure we win next year!!

Saturday 7th November

The water temp took a real dive during the week, and now stands at 45^oF. This was the second week of the Winter Series, and our new handicapper (Mark Fabik) is doing a great job.

Monday 2nd November

Many Serps swimmers went to Alan Titmuss's funeral and wake. Duff Kelly took the following photos at the wake.

Wednesday 21st October

Alan’s funeral will be held at 10:30am on Monday 2nd November at the Easthampstead Park Cemetery, Nine Mile Ride, Wokingham, RG40 3DW Click here for a map. The service will be followed by a gathering in celebration of Alan’s life at a location in Sunninghill.

Paulette would prefer people to give to Cancer Research rather than send flowers.  The undertakers are handling the collecting of donations:  Cyril H Lovegrove. Tel: 01344 622114 - 29c High Street, Sunninghill Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 9NP.

Sunday 18th October

Some lovely photos passed on to the club from a lovely Australian tourist passing the Serps.

Saturday 17th October

The water was 52F, and swimmers competed in two 100 yard races that were the last in the Daily Telegraph Series.

Friday 16th October

It is with great sadness that I have to write to tell you that our dear friend Alan Titmuss passed away this afternoon.  He was at home with his family around him.

Alan did so much for the club, more than we will ever know.  We will all miss him hugely and are thoughts must now be with Paulette and his family.

Saturday 10th October

It was lovely to see Norman and Lorraine Jones come back from France to watch, and present prizes, for the Two Ronnies Cup. Matthew won the first 220 yard race, and John Reid won the second and the cup.

Thursday 8th October

Bill Phipps' funeral will be held at 11am on Thursday 15^th October at St Mary of the Angels Church, Artesian Road, W2.  People have asked for a page to share photos, videos and anecdotes.   THIS IS IT.

Saturday 3rd October

It is with great sadness that Eric Carter announced the death of Bill Phipps.  Bill passed away at 2:30am on Thursday at home, surrounded by his family and without pain.  Bill was one of the club's great characters and he will be greatly missed.  Mixed in with the sadness at the Serps, was plenty of laughter as we shared our own stories and memories of Bill; some of these are captured in the YouTube videos below.

Two races were competed in for the Cyril and Yvonne Wood Cup.  Both were 220 yards.  The first was won by John Reid, who narrowly beat Geoff Ransom on the finish.  The second was won by Cameron Kelly.

Saturday 5th September

Boris Mavra won the Annual All Clothes Race.  The 100 yard race had an excellent turn out, with some great costumes.  The water was 56^oF and it was a beautifully crisp and clear morning.  It was lovely to see Jon and Laura Tomlinson at the Serps, having brought their very new baby with them, Billy.

Monday 1st September

Alan Titmuss has had his operation to remove a blockage in his lower intestine.  He is feeling far better now, eating well and joking around.  He is planning when he is going to be back at the Serps.  Norman Jones and Alan recorded this video for the Serps Swimmers from his hospital room in Annecy.

Saturday 23rd August

The club were lucky to be able to welcome George Brutton and his family to the Serps for the race that they sponsor.  The race was 440 yards long and won by Saundra, then second was Haydon, followed by Di.

Alan Titmuss has been unwell recently, and is now on the mend.  Members of the club posed for a GET WELL SOON ALAN display (see below) which has been sent to Alan in hospital.

Sunday 9th August

Lots of Serps swimmers went up to the River Nene, near Oundle to participate in a race organised by Jeremy Hunter-Coddington.  This was the 4th year it had been run.  There were four events: 1 and 2 miles for both freestyle and breaststroke.  CLICK HERE FOR THE RESULTS

Saturday 8th August

We all had the pleasure of racing the 3 x 110 yard race for the Andrew Fuller Medley Cup. Katheleen won with Clare Doyle a close second.

Saturday 1st August

Roy Wrey's daughter came along to present "The Roy Wrey Cup" and prizes honoring her father, a former president of the club.  Not to be outdone by Tony's win last week, Sandra won today's race with Ted coming in second followed by Yoko and Cyril.  Congratulations were offered to Boris for his successful channel crossing on Wednesday, to Sakura and Nick for their Catalina channel crossing and Alcatraz escapades and to Conor and Leann for their outstanding performances in Calshot.  President Eric Carter paid tribute to Roy by leading the club in its traditional "Hip Hip Hip  - Hooray" cheer whilst adding in an extra "Hip" in the Roy Wrey staccato fashion "hip hip hip hip"

Thursday 30th July

Boris Mavra swam the English Channel in a heroic 14 hours and 24 minutes. Another Channel swimmer for the Serps; well done Boris.

Monday and Tuesday 27th/28th July

Nick Adams and Sakura Hingley swam the Catalina Channel. The swim is 21 miles and starts off on Catalina Island and one then swims to the nearest bit of the US mainland near LA. Nick's Photos -- Sakura's Photos

Saturday 25th July

John and Yoko presented prizes for the Peter Saunders Race for "The Jock Fee Cup".  Tony Cuthbert won the race going off at a mark 5 minutes before Cyril Wood, who came in second. Cyril congratulated Tony on the "win" before the race even started!  Simon came in third followed by Ted and then Clare. 

Thursday 16th July

Leanne Harling set off from English shores just before 5am to swim to France.  The sea was a little lumpy to start with, but after a couple of hours turned into perfect conditions.  Sadly Leanne battled away for an amazing 15 hours and 54 minutes, before she was taken from the water 0.5 nautical miles from France, physically exhasted.  We are all so proud of her, and are heartbroken that she got so close.  Next time Leanne.  Click here to see the photos

Tuesday 14th July

Sophie Rutenbar and Nick Adams swam the English Channel in 14 hours 33 mins and 13 hours 3 mins respectively.  They had good conditions for the first half, and then had to contend with force five seas for the second half.  Click here to see the photos

Sunday 12th July

Friends joined members of the Serps to celebrate Emmi's 70th Birthday at a surprise party at the Lido organized by her daughter Elvira.

Saturday 11th July

This was the blue ribbon event of the Summer at the Serps.  The 1000 yard Bridge to Bridge race was won by Miss Anna Hillyer; a popular win.  Prizes were presented by Anthony and Jenny Cleaver.  Neil Price is also pictured with silverware, as he was away the previous week when he should have been presented with the Club Championship Cup.

Saturday 4th July

This was the final race that counts towards the Club Championship.  The race was an 880 yard scratch race.   Cameron won, just beating a new Dutch Chap and Tori coming third.  The Club Champion for 2009 is Neil Price, as he has collected the greatest number of points in the series of races.

Saturday 27th June

A beautiful sunny morning at the Serps with the water at a lovely 69F! Today's race was a mile for the Rosie George Cup and photographer Andrew won by a good distance, with Barney coming in second, Bobby Third, and Desiree 4th.  Rosie and Mansour presented some very nice sweaters to remind everyone of the winter.  David was back after a long absence and we also enjoyed a visit from the legendary Bill Phipps! 
 

Saturday 20th June

The Radford Mile is the first mile race of the season and Tony and Christine Radford came up to present the Cup, bringing some sunshine with them.  Thanks to her hard training during the past few weeks, and boosted by an inadvertently kind handicap, Diana Munns won the race by a quarter! In second place was Kevin, 3rd Maria, 4th President Eric, 5th Ming and 6th was George.  Tony Radford also presented a special prize to a surprised Conor (the older) for being the Last One To Finish - what an honor! 

Friday 12th June

As the usual Serps swimmers arrived for their morning dips, we noticed a mass of participants in a London/Paris charity triathlon-styled event.  They had a dip in the Serps, then ran round the Serps a could of times after getting changed.  Then I understand they were bused to Paris for a cycle.  Some of you may be aghast to see a cigarette in our lifeguard Pip's mouth (see below); I can assure you it was a dummy one! [REMOVED!]

Wednesday 10th June

Can anyone provide the name of this English Channel Swimmer who was so weak he needed a wetsuit to swim in the 60^oF+ Serps?

Saturday 6th June

Swimmers raced 880 yards for the Sidney Levy Cup.  Andrew Buurman won, with Andy Deeley coming a close second.  There is currently loads and loads of algae growing which is fun to throw around!   The resident 2 swans have produced 4 cygnets, and there were also a collection of canada geese goslings.

Saturday 30th May

The Paul Bridgeman Team race, Paul a member in the 1920's, had a fatal accident while chopping wood on his estate, the family have been presenting the tankards in his memory since 1930, when Gerald the bearded one would stand on our table, the original and present the prizes, we had 12x4 teams a bit chaotic, Neil's team, Ron Whittham, Bobby Baxter with Ausie new boy Dave Majarich eventually winning.

Saturday 23rd May

This morning saw the two races.  First the veterans (over 50's) raced for the Leslie Brew Veteran's Cup which Trish Kelly won. Next came a fierce race for the Ferris Cup, which Matthew Marrony won, with Bjorn Model 2nd, then Anthony Cleaver and Paul Cooper.  The last photo below is of the "Chemo Club's Birthday Boys", Bill Phipps and Alan Titmuss.

Saturday 16th May