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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.

Silverware for Andrew Wilson.

George Brutton, a club regular from the 80s and 90s, first sponsored this late summer race in 1991.  The cup is a re-dedicated trophy originally presented by Louis Fabre in 1937 for a series of four midweek races swum between June and October.  The 1937 winner was club speedster Maurice Ferris.  By coincidence we swim for the Maurice Ferris cup next Saturday, 5 September.

Louis is fondly remebered by the small band of very long term members as a great multi discipline athlete with a competitive streak and a will to break records.

Produce from the Garden of England (i.e. John and Linda's back yard) presented as prizes for the 800m (880 yard) race for the Andean Project cup.  Tira Shubart harvested her first Serpentine trophy and first share of the yummies.

This race is also the third of the four race Emmi Hunte series -  February 50m, March 100m, August 800, October 100m.

Tira Shubart was followed in by Andrew Wilson, Vanessa Marshall, Charlie Frith and Anna Conrad.

Three strokes and three lengths equalled victory for James Lythe.

Charlie Frith second home, follwed by Toby Crooks and Jamal Saad.

Plus a fond fairwell and bon voyage to Mia Ryan, who set off from the Serpentine on her two-wheeled solo journey to Mongolia.  Much love, hugs and best wishes were shared.

Bobby Baxter joined us for the annual race in memory of his 1889 Christmas Day winning great grandfather.  Arthur Hester was a key club member in the late 19th century, serving on the committee from 1890 to 1902. 

The event was introduced to the club fixture list in 1983 to develop relations between the swimming club and the recently established running club.  Four decades later many of today's entrants are able to claim "dual qualification".