A big effort by our swimmers in Barnet on Sunday June 7th saw Otter retain its position as top club in the Middlesex county, winning by a healthy margin over Cally Masters Islington and fourteen other clubs. Congratulations to everyone who took part and contributed to this victory.

The Middlesex Championships is always a good opportunity for swimmers to make their first competitive appearance for Otter, and this year Wade Rimbach (30-34 year age group), Dontony Gill-Nasadi (18-24), Josh Sambrook-Smith (30-34), Paul Fakley (45-49), Sharon Wright (55-59) andDaiga Taurite (30-34) all made their Otter debuts. In fact some of the best swims of the day came from our debutantes, including Wade narrowly touching out Josh to take the 50m backstroke title in exciting fashion, Josh taking gold in the 50 breastroke, Paul Fakley seemingly winning every race he swam, and Dontony, Daiga and Sharon all beating their entry times and picking up a number of medals along the way.

Special mention also goes to Rebecca Mulcahy (18-24), Tracey Allen (25-29),Peggy Etiebet (35-39), and Emma Shkurka (30-34) who transferred their water polo talents to the racing pool for the day with great success. Peggy picked up a fantastic gold in the 50 breastroke, as did Emma in the 50 fly. Both Rebecca and Tracey picked up a number of medals in their very competitive age groups.