George Brutton came along with his lovely wife to present the Uncle George cup.
Before the main proceedings, the cup for the winner of the final Wednesday races series was awarded. George Cselko won, which was of great surprise to him.
For the main event, a very chuffed Elina Grigoriou won. She writes rather eloquently about her big win:
"I still have to turn and look at it every so often just to make sure it is really beside me, that I did actually win a very convincing 1st place in the Serpentine Saturday morning races. I have never won a cup you see; a few medals yes but never an actual trophy cup! And there is a small part of me that wants to say "it's just swimming you know, and you're not the fastest really..." But another bigger part of me acknowledges the progress I have made so far and recognises its importance. I have had to work on mental and emotional issues as much as technique to progress on something physical, so this is a reflection of progress of the self and that as most of us know, takes effort and I'm giving myself a bit of slack for today.
As soon as I got hold of this cup in my hands though (and it's a proper winners cup!) I wanted to share it with all my family and friends, but especially those in my philosophy group and those who swim with me, who help me and each other to better ourselves. The fun of winning is only present when I can share it. This is not a surprise as we never win on our own, but as part of a group, a team. And I have one of each and they inspire me, challenge and support me on a constant basis; this little win is for you my Philo group, 'Inane Serpentine Group' & ?#TeamNoChlorine?!
Shout out to Geraldine Treacher for all the lessons she has freely shared that have paid off the last few months, Alice Gartland for encouraging me to acknowledge my effort and for taking the great pics, and Sam Mould for nudging me to actually take part on the day!!
Anecdote: the young female supermarket cashier asked me if it was real and if I'd actually won it, then asked to touch it and when I offered it to her to hold, she lifted it up as a winner. Her facial reactions said it all though and hopefully it may make her believe she can also win one...
Now, onto the next little event coming up for which today was a warm up; our tide window starts on Saturday September 5th to cross the English Channel in a 6 person relay with #TeamNoChlorine...
Just one more glance at that cup though today and maybe... Pizza. Wine. Ice cream! wink emoticon"
