Serpentine Swimming Club

The first 200m of the autumn saw a race to remember three valued past members and to celebrate two prominent current favourites.

Go west young swimmer.

A tad too many slimy patches in the Lido area meant we raced westward towards the Serpentine bridge, turning at the Brodie Buoy.  Left or right, it still added up to the required 400m.

The fun fest of our All Clothes Race dates back to the very beginning of the club and has a very serious intent.  The race reflects the club's Royal Humane Society origins promoting water safety.  An All Clothes Race appeared on the fixture list in 1866.

Originally it was an event to test a swimmer's ability to survive and swim fully clothed should they fall into a river or canal.  The required minimum dry weight of clothing was originally 8lbs.  This was reduced (on compassionate grounds?) to 6lbs (2.7kg in modern parlance) in the 1930s and is still the "official" requirement.  Though the race nowadays sees many "dressed to impress" fancy outfits, it still reminds the competitor just how tough it is should they find themselves in the water dressed in a heck of a lot more than a mere slinky, skimpy swim suit.

It was watched-on by early arriving participants Swim Serpentine event based on the other side of the lake, a quite serious affair.  What they witnessed was the Serpentine Swimming Club at its gloriously frivolous, excentric best.

Dusty Rhodes was one of the club's many "characters" to have adorned our ranks over the decades, and centuries.  WW2 submariner, Brentford docks stevedore and penny farthing rider.  He also found time to enter Masters' swimming events.

James Norton triumped, followed by Nick Codling, Toby Crooks, Chris Daniels, Charlie Frith and Deirdre Ward.

Plus cake sharing congratulations for the now "true Brit" Ilyan Kovatchev.