Club races and records

The swimmers of the Serpentine Swimming Club race every Saturday morning throughout the year, regardless of the weather.  If the lake is frozen we break the ice and still swim.

The races take place at 8am on Saturdays, and are open to paid-up members.

Most races are handicapped by the Hon. Handicapper (Mark Fabik) so that every swimmer has an equal chance of winning.  The slowest swimmers go off first and the faster ones chase after them at various intervals.  Members are only eligible to win prizes after they have participated in at enough races for the handicapper to correctly gauge their swimming ability.  This is at least 3 races, but this does depend on the Hon. Handicapper’s discretion.

 
There are 5 Championship races per year (55 yards, 110 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards and 880 yards).  In these races all swimmers start the race at the same time and accumulate points towards the Club Championship.  This is awarded to the swimmer with the most points after the final race of the series.  The Championship races are indicated on the race lists by an asterisk.