There are few better ways to speand a summer’s day than diving into the River thames and swimming 13km through the heat of the English countryside. the Thames Marathon once again challenged open water swimmers to push themselves to their limits while enjoying a spectacular route from Henley-on-Thames to Marlow.

The Thames Marathon race

The race is more than a test of endurance. From the momment you enter the water, you are surrounded by beautiful scenery, historic villages and the buzz fellow swimmers taking on the challenge. there are three distances to choose from: the 5.5km Half Marathon, the 9km Mid-distance and the full 13km Marathon. Spencer had a swimmer at each distance.

The full Marathon route passes through places such as Hambleden, Hurley and Temple before reaching Marlow. Swimming that distance demands determination, patience and plenty of physical and mental strength. When fatigue sets in, the atmosphere and a vision of the finish keep you going, one stroke after another.

Alice, a relatively new member to the Spencer Swim Team said:

Hannah, a regular open-water swimmer who has accomplished far more challenging distances in harsher conditions completed the 9km and enjoyed every meter. While Ross chose to take on the Half distance of 5.5km.

Open Water Swimming

Swimmers from across the Spencer team have embarked on multiple open-water challenges this summer and it is great that our squad members are transferring their passion for swimming from the pool to more exciting environments.

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Brockwell Relays are a tried and tested format: a freestyle relay, medley relay and breaststroke relay, followed by a squadron and, if you have any energy (or body heat) left, a final relay mixed with swimmers from all the other teams.

We had a great blend of Brockwell veterans and newer members, which is a big pull for events like this. We also had a spread of teammates from all our weekly training sessions and locations, and a catch-up in the Prince Regent Pub once the racing finished.

Special thanks, in addition to Hannah and Jen, also go to:

– our amazing timekeeper Daisy

– Team Alex (his housemates) for cheering us on again

– Robyn for bringing much-needed drinks

There was some amazing other stuff going on in the other teams too. I’d never seen supported swimming with a noodle for partially sighted swimmers before, which was pretty humbling. There’s a real collegial spirit across all teams at the event, helped of course by the mixed race at the end.

If this is something you’d like to do we’d love you to join the event next year. There are two Brockwell Relay galas in 2027, one in May and one in August. There are also the Tooting Midsummer Relays in their 100 yard lido.

Spencer offers many opportunities for fun events throughout the year, away from mainstream masters competitions.

The Spencer Team

– Alex, Alicia, Anna, Christine, Hannah, James, Jen, Josh, Mark, Robyn, Ross

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The Dart 10k – Open Water Distance Swim

The Dart 10K is a river swim that starts with a boat trip from Dartmouth up the course before mooring and letting the swimmers go. In fact there are three boats, each with about 150 swimmers on board, and a buzz and anticipation that open water swimming often brings.

The course starts in a meandering, high-sided landscape before opening up into a wide, flat valley where the first feed station awaits. Some jelly beans and water before you head into a long bend round to Dittisham, then through a narrower section with lots of boats. At this point you realise the tide is quite strong as you fly past the boats, and only narrowly miss a few!

The final long straight into Dartmouth comes faster than expected, and you cross the line to receive a branded mug of hot chocolate as a reward. It’s a quick and exhilarating race, a little over 2 hours (comparable to the 3 hours it would take in a lake).

The Hurly Burly – Open Water Distance Swim

The Hurly Burly is another level, and its name is definitely appropriate. It’s wild, fast, and leaves you breathless and grinning from ear to ear.

You set off at 7:30 in the morning as the tide turns in and swim into the estuary. You swim straight off the beach along the sea wall before being taken by the current, heading straight for a bridge at pace. Keep your head up and sighting as it passes by in seconds, and you sigh in relief you didn’t hit it! They guide you sideways even though it looks clear straight on, and once you’ve hit a sandbank inches below you realise that following them is the only way forward. The water is choppy, the sky blowing past and the Welsh valley serenely beautiful.

At the finish, you have to sprint from left to right without passing it by, then onto land, where a band of drummers greets you. Less than 1.5 hours, wide-eyed and bashed, a wonderful swim. There are 600 swimmers, and pretty much all of them end up in the pub for a bacon sarnie and a slowing of the pulse.

Swims like these underscore the pleasure of swimming in open water and swimming distances you rarely attempt in the pool.

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Instead, swimmers of all age groups take on the Spencer Mile, a 2k open water course (spot the irony). This two-lap, ‘first-back-on-the-pontoon’ event is another great feature of the club’s commitment to providing a varied swimming programme for our members. Plus, we all love having a bit of fun.

The Open Water Race and Winners

This year’s race was tightly fought on both the men’s and women’s side, with Matthew Taylor and Helen Cumber coming in ahead of the chasing pack. There was the usual competitive spirit on show, with some mini-races at different stages around the course.

With friends and families also welcome, our two time-keeping assistants were gainfully employed in return for payment in Haribo sweets – which suited them fine!

This year’s competition saw far fewer wetsuits, as the long, hot summer created ideal conditions for an open-water event. On the day, we were also fortunate to have full sun and a delightfully warm morning.

With winners announced and prizes awarded, the serious business of hot drinks and cake provided a great opportunity to socialise. As ever, we were deeply grateful to those who supplied a variety of tasty treats for our delectation.

We can’t wait for next year!

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A few years back, a group of our swimmers banded together for a day out at the coast and a sea swim. Now, that annual trip has become a fixture on the calendar, and its popularity has spread. 

This year, we were treated to open blue skies and sunshine, which immediately lifted the mood as we congregated at Clapham Junction station. A few coffees and pastries later, as we chugged south, the train turned towards Hastings and tracked the coastline, revealing beautiful calm and inviting coastal waters. 

As we disembarked at Hastings station and scurried to acquire more provisions for the day ahead, the excitement levels began to rise, and the potential cooling effects of the sea became increasingly motivating. 

Arriving in Hastings

We convened at the Coastguard Cafe in Hastings, hosted by our coach, Steve. We drank more fluids and ate extra calories for the impending swim. Then came the walk down to the sea, taking in the coastal footpaths across headlands and down through the woods. 

Emerging from the dense woods, our swimmers were hot and ready. The eagerness was palpable. Without hesitation, we stripped to our swimsuits and stuffed our towfloats, launching ourselves into the breakers and heading immediately for deeper waters and along the coast to Hastings town.

What a total delight it was, with warm water and sun on our backs. The swim almost went too fast, but we were united in exiting the water in Hastings town and heading back to the cafe for a post-swim BBQ and a bit of refreshment.  Since the bus taking us there wasn’t as quick as our swimmers, we had extra time to lie on the beach and grab some Mr Whippy ice creams. 

The high-energy atmosphere after the swim showed just how enjoyable it had been. The team had a lot of fun as the burgers and hot dogs topped up their energy, while the beverages kept the laughs rolling. 

Swimming at Spencer starts in the water but extends far beyond.

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Results and Medals

We kept ourselves busy, swimming 85 individual events and 13 relays. The team won 49 individual golds, ranging from 4 in the 20-24 group (Ava) up to 8 in the 65-69 group (Amanda), as well as 12 silvers and 6 bronzes. In the relays we took 2 golds, 5 silvers and 2 bronzes. 

Spencer finished a commendable 3rd in the overall table, behind Woking – who brought some spectacular swimmers – and Croydon Amphibians – who seemingly brought half of Croydon. 

Highlights

Whilst there were so many good swims across all our swimmers, some to call out included:

* Leo breaking the 2 minute barrier to win the 30-34 200m Freestyle in 1:58.80, and also swimming the 100m Fly, 100m IM and 200m IM. He wisely took the last session off after all that. 

* Alicia winning the 30-34 100m Fly in 1:12.96 after only joining Spencer 3 weeks ago. Imagine the times she’ll post once she’s been training for a whole month. 

* Amy, when she wasn’t breaking her cap just before her race started, picking up another impressive debut win in the 30-34 years breaststroke. 

* Luca winning gold in the 50-54 years 200m IM in 2:44.82. 

* Karl and Helen going neck and neck throughout in adjacent lanes in the 100m IM, with Helen just taking it at the end. 

* Jen, not being content with a hard day’s racing, was speeding off to camp overnight and swim the Seahorse on Sunday too. 

* Clive kindly taking the hit on pretty much all the Fly in the medleys, leaving us the more enjoyable strokes. 

So what makes the Surrey’s Championships good to get into racing?

Personally, I really enjoyed my first gala since 2001, and had been looking at the Surreys for a while for this reason.

* They’re really accessible and inclusive. There are no qualifying times, and no competitive swimming membership requirements. 

* The oldest swimmer was an inspiring 95 years old(!), and there was just a huge range of swimmers scoring points for their clubs at a really friendly, supportive event. 

* There are some amazing swimmers to watch, with 2 swimmers going 1:52 in the 200m Free and the 50m Free being won in 22.88. Many swimmers are at the other end of the performance scale, which makes it feel very inclusive for all abilities.

* Guildford’s pretty close to us (closer than Aberdeen) and lots of us gave lifts to teammates. The National Express goes to the door too and you might be able to get back for the evening Putney session at a push. 

* We were superbly organised by Luca (thank you!), who, in between his races, made sure all the relay teams were ready to go. Christine, when not racing, fed us with some delicious carrot cake she baked for the team. 

* It’s a great set up with a warm up/down pool as well as the racing pool. 

* Our training is geared for it in the weeks running up to the gala so you’ll definitely feel ready for it. 

So if it is something you’d like to consider, do have a chat as we’d love to take more people down next year!

Spencer Full Team

Annabel Barker, Clive Benson, Daniel Cotton, Helen Cumber, Joseph Dean, John Fitzgerald, Valentyna Foytlova, Barbara Halls, Amanda Heath, Clare Humphries, Jennifer Kelly, Christine Lutsch, Laura Mason, Alicia Merlino, Luca Milana, Leo Murison, Alan Parkins, Amy Powell, Ava Simpson, Karl Simpson and Mark Thompson

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A small but sparkling team from Spencer made the long journey to Aberdeen to compete in the GB Masters Championships, held on 12-14 June, with everyone bringing back medals.

The Mixed 240+ team consisting of John Fitzgerald on back, Amanda Heath on breast, Clive Benson on fly and Esther Iseppi on front crawl were victorious in the 4×50 and 4×100 medley teams and took silver in the 4×100 free.

We then won a further 5 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze medals in the individual events as follows:

John Fitzgerald 50-54

Gold 50m back

Guy Emerson 60-64

Bronze 50m back, 100m back

8th 50m free

9th 100m free

Clive Benson – Male – 60-64 years

Bronze 100 fly

4th 50 fly

Suzanne Maidment 60-64

Bronze 100 breast, 200 breast

4th 100 free, 200 free, 800 free, 5th 400 free

Esther Iseppi 65-69

Silver 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM, 400 IM

Bronze 400 free

5th 50 breast

Amanda Heath 65-69

Gold 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM, 400 IM

Silver 400 free

Bronze 50 breast

The GB Masters alternates each year between England and Scotland/Wales – it was announced that next year’s venue will be Sunderland, 11-13 June.

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Chris Dunn came home in a time of 22.47.90, knocking nearly 4 minutes off the British record and 2 minutes off the European record, to win the 80-84 age group.

Also winning their age groups were Jennifer Kelly (40-44) in 23.13.01 and Christine Lutsch (45-49) in 22.50.90. 

Relay World Record

Chris then stayed on for the relay gala in the evening, joining up with Esther Iseppi (back), Amanda Heath (breast) and Clive Benson (fly) to break the world record for the 280+ Mixed Medley relay.

“We knew we had a chance of a World Record” said Amanda, “but after Esther fractured her wrist when we were in Abu Dhabi for the Open Masters Games last month, we thought it might be a tough ask. Almost fully recovered, Esther swam a great 100 backstroke leg and at the half way point we knew the record was within our grasp. Clive and Chris swam fabulous splits and we ended up over a second inside the old record, which was set in 2015 by a team from Tamalpais Masters in USA. Prior to that, Spencer held the record, with Esther (then on fly), Nigel Salsbury, Diane Ford and Geoff Stokes, so it’s nice to get it back again”.

The Team then went on to break Spencer’s European records in the 4x100m free (set last year at the same meet) and 4x50m free (set in Japan in 2023), and also broke the European record in the 4x50m medley held by a Hungarian team.

For their efforts, they were awarded the trophy for the Top Team performance.

Much further north, Suzanne Maidment was racing in Aberdeen, checking out the venue of the GB championships in June. Newly aged up to the 60-64 age group, she had some great swims, winning gold in the 200 breast and silver in the 200 and 400 free.

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Windermere is England’s longest lake and for open water swimmers it’s something of a rite of passage. For our member Luke, it was a challenge that had to be taken on, so 2025 became the year to do it.

The swim was organised by Chillswim, who run several Lake District events including the iconic Windermere crossing. September 6th was the date, with around 300 swimmers signed up. Entries require you to declare your intended pace, as swimmers are set off in waves. For the first hour you must stay with your wave, so pacing matters – too slow and you’ll spend the swim frustrated, too fast and you risk blowing up early.

Training started in the pool through the winter before moving into open water in early May. Luke kicked things off with a 5km lake swim, where he was beaten by his 15-year-old son, a reminder he is not as young as he once was! However rather than denting morale, it sharpened Luke’s focus.

Next up was a 9km swim at Lake Bala. True to form, the Welsh weather delivered rain, wind and chop. It was a tough and slightly unnerving experience, especially knowing it was only half the distance of Windermere. Confidence returned later in the summer during a 4.5 hour training swim in a large, flat-calm lake in France. Luke swam the entire session alone (phone safely in his tow float and always close to shore). After that, he was ready!

Event day begins with registration in a field at the north end of the lake, followed by a minibus ride to the southern start, an uncomfortably long journey when you know you’ll soon be swimming the whole way back.

The route is 17km (11 miles in the event’s preferred metric). Feed stops appear every mile, with small boats offering isotonic drinks and jelly babies, yum! Luke also carried carbohydrate pouches in his tow float and aimed to refuel roughly every two miles, about once an hour.

The opening miles were perfect. Flat calm water, a group of around 40 swimmers, and a pace that felt just right. The first feed stop broke the pack apart and from there it became a steady process of overtaking swimmers from earlier waves.

Just before halfway, the course cuts across the lake from east to west to keep swimmers clear of other lake traffic. It’s a welcome change of direction before the halfway point and the scenic stretch past the islands, where the waves begin to merge and the water fills with swimmers.

Beyond the islands the lake opens into its wider northern section. More boats, more waves and by now the weather had picked up slightly. Fatigue started to creep in, and thoughts turned increasingly to the large yellow rubber duck marking the finish line. At one point Luke spent nearly a mile chasing a swimmer with a small yellow duck tow float before realising it wasn’t the finish..!

The final mile crosses toward Ambleside, the real duck finally in sight. Tired arms are replaced by determination as the shoreline gets closer. At the finish, the enclosure is full of tired but happy swimmers, supporters and volunteers and the unmistakable camaraderie that seems to define open water swimming.

Huge well done to you Luke — you’ve shown the way and inspired a few of us to give it a go! An iconic swim, and a brilliant one to tick off the list!

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Spencer Swim Team will celebrate its 50th year next year, placing it among some of the most long-standing and prestigious masters swimming clubs in the UK. With a strong community of adult swimmers achieving success at regional, national, and international competitions, and the growing interest in all forms of adult swimming, we are experiencing membership growth.

Building on our coaching success

Spencer has already established a fantastic coaching team, with four coaches covering our seven scheduled sessions across the week. With over eighty regular swimmers, the club provides sessions for a wide cross-section of the masters swimming community.

Over the past year, the club has evolved its coaching structure to meet the demands of competition cycles. Our evolving structure has increased the popularity of many of our training sessions.

In response, the club is now seeking to recruit additional coaching experience. This appointment will support our expanding swim squad with development and performance.

Adding the right skills and experience

Spencer Swim Team seeks a passionate coach committed to improving masters swimmers to fulfil an open job role. The role will cover 1-2 sessions per week across our schedule.

An incoming coach must work with an existing team that has deep swim-coaching experience and knowledge. Our goal in appointing a new coach is to identify skills and experience that complement the current team. As a club, we’re interested in assistant coaches and those with more experience in planning and delivering training sessions for masters swimmers. Any new coach should be familiar with the principles of long-term development in adult fitness and performance. Experience of modern coaching approaches, including emerging research. Applicants must be at least a Level 1 Swim England Assistant Coach and preferably a Level 2 Swim England Swim Coach.

The coach must be local to our sessions across South London and able to access Dulwich, Forest Hill, Clapham, Tooting, and Putney.

Coaches interested in talking to us about joining the coaching team, can email us at spencerswimteam@gmail.com

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