Participation and Medal Tally

Out to Swim sent one of the largest groups to the Gay Games: 91 swimmers (including thosewho did synchro and water polo as well), 23 waterpolo players, 1 synchronised swimmer and 3 coaches (two were registered and included as swimmers), making a total of 116 people.

For the detailed information follow this link, but here's a summary (if I understand the official results properly):

Gold - 39
Silver - 32
Bronze - 31

In other words a total of 102 medals for the swimmers. There were loads of world, European, British and IGLA records broken - details to follow! Out to Swim ranked top of the medal table and it is great to see that we got more golds than silver or bronze. Don't forget that synchro got a gold and the Orca A team came out top as well.

What better way to spend a lovely summer's day than at the beach? Nine adventurous ‘OuttoSwimmers' (Catherine W., Sonya R., Emma B., Mike R., Mike G., Rick S., Paul S., Charlie S. and Clinton P.) decided to brave the seaside waves for the annual Brighton Pier to Pier race.

About 150 competitors ranging from ages 13 to 63 stormed the water in to big tussle to get around the first flag. From there, heads bobbed up and down searching for the Helter Skelter on the pier in the distance, where the finishing boats sat waiting underneath. Some of us went a little too far out to sea while others of us came a little too close towards the shore on our way to finishing the 1500m event. We were no match for the young blood taking up most of the top spots but we gave it our best.

Everyone has their own story to tell about seasickness, bleeding, swallowing water and muscle cramps afterwards, but all agreed it was a fun but challenging event.

Thanks to Karen, Lizzie and Laura (plus others) for being the official cheer squad. There perfect end to the day was a drink (or two) and fish and chips on the beach. Next year it would be great to have an even bigger team, but you'll need to register early so watch out next year. For further results and times see the link here.

You can also find some more photos here.

Dominic Prigent and Mike G. swam the Mencap one mile open water swim at the Eton College Rowing Centre at Dorney Lake in Windsor on Sunday July 25th 2010.  Dominic has kindly provided the following report:

"After swimming the Great London swim, I joined the one mile Mencap swim firstly for the challenge, and then because I was attracted to the site, as it will host the 2012 Olympic rowing competition. It gave me a buzz. The venue was amazing: large green space, clean & clear water (nothing like the Serpentine pea soup), good spirit and excellent organisation.

A picnic basket and friends would have completed the picture, but in fact my personal sense of achievement (everything is relative) and the good atmosphere on the site filled the day pretty well. I so recommend that swim and it is for a good cause. Next? After improving my time by 1 minute (from 30 to 29), I am now chasing the 27min mark for the Great Manchester swim in 6 weeks (no pressure)."

(Ed: - Dominic P and Mike G represented OTS placing 21st and 2nd respectively out of 135 swimmers.  Well done guys!  Anyone interested in finding out more about the work of Mencap can visit their website at: www.mencap.org.uk.)

In my view one of the best things about Out to Swim (apart from the swimming of course) is the mix of people you find here - it is not uncommon to hear French, Italian and Spanish being spoken around the pool!  We have many people visiting us, either for a few days or months.  Sometimes our members head off permanently to far flung places.  With that in mind I'm introducing something new to the website, which is to ask people to tell us about their OTS experience and to give us news about what they are doing now. The first person to "volunteer" is Luis Lopez Linares", who I managed to drag away from his busy schedule ..  Gay Pride in Madrid, Kylie Minogue concert, celebrating the World Cup, on the beach in Malaga ... to write this.  No, Luis, we're not jealous.

Hi everybody. Here are a few words to tell you about my experience in OTS.

I thought that joining OTS would be a good opportunity to practice English and my favorite sport (swimming, of course) during my three month stay in London. However, it has meant much more than that.  Joining the club was the best thing I did in London.  OTS is a great swimming club, with a fantastic organisation, where you can swim every day (and some days even twice), with a team of very professional and nice trainers, and very well located swimming pools. It's also a great way to socialise and meet people.

I have to say that I love London because it is a fantastic city where everybody is welcomed and you can find every kind of person from all around the world. OTS is a very good example of London: very nice and different people, coming from everywhere, from Australia to Canada, from China to Mexico, from Hungary to Argentina...or even from London ;-)

I met a lot of wonderful guys, and despite of my short period swimming with the club, I am still in contact with a lot of them, and I'm sure that I will meet many of them again in the future. Without any doubt, the best of this club are the members. I hope it keeps being the same in the future.

Good luck for all the swimmers in the Gay Games and I hope you have a lot of fun in Cologne!!