A romp of Otters (I am very excited that this is what a group of otters is called, according to Wikipedia, anyway) trekked to the wilderness of norf London yesterday for the first in the series of Barnet meets; this time tackling the distance events. With vouchers to spend at the swim shop of £4 for a first place, £3 for 2nd and £2 for 3rd, a nice bounty was available for those who were willing to enter lots of events, especially when you take into account that there frequently were less than 3 people per age!

Lesley Davis (400 fc, 200 IM), Rob Williams (400 fc, 200 fly), Jane Leighton (200 IM), Liz Shaw (200 br), Jane McMenemy (200 fc, 100 fly) and Gina Hobson (200 bk, 200 IM, 200 br) pulled out some excellent swims, setting season’s, if not lifetime, bests in a number of events.

Neil McMahon, now officially swimming as an Otter, demonstrated some interesting pacing for his 200bk, comfortably negatively splitting, although he still won his age. However, after the 200 IM, not even the lure of further vouchers could keep him up north, and he headed home for some quality time with his sofa. Man down. Speaking of man down, there was a rumour that Fiona Marshall was going to make her mark on the 400 fc this weekend.  Record crowds arrived to witness what would truly be a momentous occasion; you can imagine their disappointment when they discovered that Fiona hadn't left her bed. Shocking.  At the other end of the continuum, Derek Parr, disguising himself as a Broomfield Park swimmer, had an insane schedule, including the 400 fc, 200 and 400 IM, 200 and 100 fly, 100fc,  plus a few others I think I’ve missed off, and still managed to post some strong times. While Michelle Senecal displayed excellent tactics in revealing an inability to work a stopwatch while timing the 200 br and is now safe in the knowledge that Coach Steve won’t ask her to do that job again – good work. And I’m sure Lauren Edwards will agree that her greatest achievement of the day was falling asleep on deck for a good 30mins or so prior to the 200 fc – excellent preparation.

Thanks to Coach Steve for coming along and providing support, splits etc, and to Ian Woollard, the Barnet Masters Coach and organiser supreme – another great meet!
 

Reporter : Gina