Out to Swim invites you to take part in its fourth annual swim meet GLLAM 2010 (Gay and Lesbian London Aquatic Meet), from 5-7 March, 2010.

GLLAM 2010 will be held at the Queen Mother Sports Centre, Victoria, from 13:30-20:30.

The meet will feature a full schedule of races and relays with electronic timing, in accordance with FINA rules, as well as a synchronised swimming demonstration.

"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.