"Let me be absolutely clear: the distance of the swim is 4.7 miles."

It wasn't just the three OTS-ers in the audience who were taken aback by this revelation -  an audible murmur of concern rippled through the entire auditorium.  Had something been lost in translation?  We hoped so ...

..  if I get kicked in the head again I'm not going to be happy ... the last two beats in an 8 count still need to be counted guys ... damn I forgot that move - hope nobody noticed ... I'm too old for this ... are we having fun yet? ..

The answer last night was definitely yes, thanks largely to the tremendous support from the 25+ team of very vocal OTS supporters.  It made a huge difference hearing all of you yelling and clapping.  To the soundtrack of "Let me entertain you" we flicked our hats away and dived in for our two minute performance.  That two minutes felt like 20 seconds.  There was no time to think about what was coming next.  If you'd seen the rehearsal earlier in the day I think you would have been worried for us, but when the music was on and the crowd yelling it fell into place.

Eric's idea some 8 months ago came to fruition last night as the Seymour ladies allowed us to gatecrash their Christmas "panto".  These past six weeks we've been rehearsing for 5+ hours a week, two hours in the water (and let me tell you that is tiring) and dry land practices including a Wednesday night session (lubricated by food and wine) courtesy of Ronan and Charles.  (It got to the point where the neighbours across the street were pulling up their chairs to the window to watch our antics.  I hope they don't think we are Morris dancers!)

We've gone from nowhere to, I think, a respectable performance (judge for yourselves here).  A huge thanks have to go to our two coaches, Laila and Sanela, and of course the others who stepped in and helped/demonstrated moves to us.  As the big day loomed Sanela was cracking that whip big time, but synchronised swimming is all about timing, co-ordination and most importantly team effort.

At times toys have been slung out the cot ( .. if we change the routine AGAIN I'm going to be seriously pissed off! .. ), tempers frayed and frustration levels high; but we've worked as a team.  There have been bruises (to bodies and egos) galore!  We started as a group of unco-ordinated individuals and slowly became a team.  This is something the swimmers won't really appreciate but the water polo players do.  It has been a privilege working with such a great group of people.  Despite the stress and hard work it has been a huge team effort and I think we've had a lot of fun.  The sense of satisfaction afterwards was enormous.

In the team last night:  Jose, Eric, Alex, Jordan, Philippe, Ronan, Rick, George, Jerome, Stephen, Rick and Chris.  (To the rest of the squad who couldn't make last night - we missed you!)

What's next?  Well, on 9th January we have another beginners session so if you want to come along and have a go (and a laugh) then  let us know.  GLLAM 2010 will probably see another demo and then we have TIP at the end of May, where the competition gets serious and the stakes are high.

Once again the Out to Swim Christmas party was a huge success, thanks to the tireless efforts of Alex Magliaro (supported as usual in the background by Philip Collins dealing with the finances).  There is something pretty amazing about coasting down the Thames past all those world famous sights, lit up at night.

The music was good, the company excellent and we also managed to avoid the boat with the hen party on it!

The formal part of the evening was, of course, the presentation of the much awaited awards which were as follows: 

Best male swimmer - Rhys Williams
Best female swimmer - Lizzie Bellinger
Male water polo - Greg Retter
Female water polo - Mel Kenyon
Most improved swimmer - George Gardiner
Most improved water polo player – Gareth Johnson
Beginner of the year – Uz Afzal
OTS member of the year – Michael Reid

Congratulations to them all.  Our dashing chair, Tom Harris, made the presentations with the assistance of our very own and totally fab Angels (Alex, Jose and Chris!).  Tom thanked the committee for all their hard work, but the biggest thanks really go to Tom for his hard work over the past two years.  Stephen Lue presented Tom with a token of our appreciation. I think we can all say that the club has gone from strength to strength under his stewardship.

We had over 130 people on the boat, which is tremendous.  A lot of partners and friends were there, together with the synchro coaches.

On the stroke of midnight (or thereabouts) we were back at Westminster Pier.  Some went off to XXL and the sensible ones went to bed!

There is a tasteful selection of pictures for you to enjoy.