Congratulations to Diarmuid Dennehy, who collected his first piece of Serpentine silverware on Saturday 22 March when he won the Sgt. Thomas memorial cup. There was a very large field for the event on a mild and sunny first race of spring, the water being an inviting 8c with memories of last year's bitter one degree above freezing long forgotten. The race is swum each year in memory of Tommy Thomas, who joined the club as a 14 year old schoolboy in 1936. Tommy served in the RAF and was killed in September 1941 when his Blenheim bomber crashed on take-off. Brian Thomas and his sister Julia, and nephew Alec Hendry presented the cup on behalf of the Thomas family, who have sponsored the race since 1942.
Diarmuid, hails from near Fermoy, Co. Cork and is very involved with the promotion of the London Irish Graduate Network. Diarmuid recently organised a presentation for the group to meet the Irish Ambassador and listen to an excellent talk by Steve Redmond, the first swimmer to swim the ‘Ocean’s 7’. Serpentine swimmers who were present at the meeting included Dennehy, Liam Maher, John Tierney and Stuart O’Bowman the honorary, esteemed and enthusiastic fan of Irish rugby, but who plans to support England at the next rugby World Cup.
Thanks to the Thomas family for presenting the trophy and congratulations once again to Diarmuid on winning his first trophy at Serpentine SC.
[John Tierney @swimmingdragons]
