A big congratulations to the eleven OTS swimmers who braved the warm and murky waters of Thames on Saturday July 3rd for the one mile (1600m) Great London Swim, which took place at the Royal Victoria Docks.  Out of the 3,143 swimmers who competed, OTS fielded FIVE swimmers in the top 200!

OTS was led by the impressive swim completed by Alex Davis in 24mins and 2 seconds placing her 58th overall!  Swims were spread throughout the day in 30 minute waves with newcomer Dominic first in the water at 8:30am and finishing the gruelling course in 30mins.  Rick was super enthusiastic on the day, first competing alongside the elite Olympic swimmers in the morning (and placing 119th overall) and then racing into town to march with the OTS team in the annual Pride Parade.  Special congratulations to Dermot for placing 3rd in his age group and first time competitor Nathan!  Open water veterans Charlie and Beth were instrumental in anchoring the mixed team with times of 29 minutes and 37 minutes respectively, while Clinton and Alastair rounded off the day by racing in the final 5pm wave and placing an impressive 65th and 284th respectively.

The OTS fielded two teams in the team challenge:  the elite male team made up of Clinton, Paul, Rick and Alastair (5th overall) and the OTS mixed team of Alex, Beth, Dermot, Mike, Charlie, Dominic and Nathan (7th overall).

With the open water season in full swing, OTS is primed to make its mark as swimmers are registered for the British Gas Great Swims in Scotland, Windermere and Manchester. Entries are still open for the Scottish and Manchester swims and more information can be found on the website at: www.greatswim.org.

Alastair Bell's photos can be found here (thanks, Alastair!).

The sun shone and another great day for Out to Swim as we celebrated pride by "swimming" down Oxford St and Regent St.  Apparently there were a million people participating in or watching Pride! Who would have thought we had so many fans!

The day kicked off with breakfast in the park (thanks Klara for all the organising!) followed of course by the march - once we'd found a suitable spot (not too far from the music!).   As usual the crowds seemed to appreciate our antics - or was it just seeing a whole load of guys in speedos.  Tristan did a great job on his first ever Pride handing out flyers to everyone.

No doubt there are many anecdotes from the day (let's have them please!), but I will let the photos speak for themselves.:

• George's photos
• Stephen's photos

Update:  OTS "swims" for the BBC (see at 54 seconds into the video clip).

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today (30 June 2010) announced that it will be issuing a series of pin badges to celebrate its six strands of diversity and inclusion and engage all communities to support London 2012.

LOCOG is committed to making sure London 2012 is ‘everyone’s Games’ and staging an inspirational and memorable Games, in which everyone can take part and feel inspired. The diversity of London was one of the reasons why London was chosen to host the Games.  The first pin badge to be launched will be in support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. The badges will be on sale at London Pride on Saturday 3rd July and will also be available from the London 2012 online shop.

Further pin badges will be launched over the next year and will celebrate belief, age, disability, gender and ethnicity.  Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas said: “It’s great to see LOCOG reaching out to all communities and making sure that London 2012 is a Games for everyone, in which every community feels included. I hope that everyone buys and wears their pin badge with pride and helps us achieve greater inclusion in sport.”

Paul Deighton, Chief Executive of LOCOG said: “Our vision is as bold as it is simple – to use the power of the Games to inspire change. We want to reach out to all parts of the community and connect them with London 2012. We also want to leave a legacy of greater inclusion and understanding of diversity. Our diversity and inclusion pin badge range, starting with the LGBT pin badge, is one way of showing our support for a sporting environment built upon equality and inclusion.”

Out To Swim was represented at the launch at the LOCOG Offices by Alex (Chair) and Mike (Men’s Competition Secretary) and were joined by other members of LGBT sports teams in London and members of the private and public sector.  Further information on LOCOG’s diversity and inclusion strategy and to purchase your limited edition diversity pins, please visit LOCOG’s website at: www.london2012.com.

On Saturday 19th June, I competed in The Great East Swim at Alton Water in Suffolk.  Having driven through appalling weather conditions, I eventually found myself in the start area with approximately 80 other swimmers, some eager, some concerned, as squally showers whipped across the lake directly towards us.