South London Swimming Club warmly treated us Serpies superbly today at their place. They gave us friendly company, great food, fine silverware which we took home with us, and a chance to swim in their lovely pool, and all in memory of Doug Smith.
Deirdre Ward organised all the swimmers for Serps, and we thank her and also SLSC for their part in making a great morning.
What happened was that we chatted a lot, ate a bit, drank a bit, and swam some. Don’t worry, we swam before eating.
There was a lot of fun with races over 33 yards across all strokes, and in three age groups (40 & under, 41+, 60+). Despite SLSC having fewer numbers than normal, they started brilliantly and scorched Serps in many races.
But at the halfway point of the racing, Deirdre the team captain led by example with a great performance in the backstroke. Thanks to her fine form with some elegant backstroke, we started the pullback against the speedy SLSC.
By the time the team relays had started, both clubs were neck and neck, and it seemed that the trophy could go in either direction, either around the North Circular, or via an Uber screen watcher back to Serps.
And so it fell to the final Cannon race. Serps squeezed home by the narrowest of margins, and once SLSC had checked results against their electronic timing system, it was confirmed that Serpentine Swimming Club had achieved a heroically brave victory to win the Doug Smith Memorial Cup.
[John Tierney]
