Amongst our club events, the Handicap races are an integral part of Otter, and have a fine history of tradition behind them. The handicap events were first contested in 1870 and provide an opportunity for every member to win one of the trophies donated by Otter alumni over the years. These are both open water and pool races and are mainly swum from a staggered start, with the winner being the person most inside or closest to their handicap time. The Hon. Handicapper sets the times, and being of inscrutable character cannot be bribed to ease the times!

There are two overall handicap trophies, one for open water events only and one for all the pool and open water handicap events combined. The trophies and 2023 winners are:

• Handicap Points Overall - George H. Rope Averages Trophy (1911): Alice Dinsdale-Young

• Open Water Overall : John Goodbody

Upcoming dates for the handicap events are shown below (if available):

Handicap Events

Individual handicap events and trophies are:

• 50m Freestyle - St. George's Challenge Cup (1893)

• 100m Freestyle - Sir Pyers Mostyn, Bt. Challenge Cup (1955)

• 125m Freestyle - Ladies' Challenge Cup (1874)

• 150m Freestyle - Baldon Challenge Cup (1934)

• 200m Freestyle - A. Jonas Cup (1935)

• 400m IM - Alex Ferguson Trophy (2002)

• Veteran's 50m Freestyle - Synge-Hutchinson Challenge Cup (1931)

• Sealed 100m Freestyle - David Craig Salver (2004)

• Quarter Mile - 2nd Tom Batt Challenge Cup (1994)

• Half Mile - J.W. Rope Memorial (1921)

• Mile - Jack Cunningham Salver (1951)

2023 Handicap Results

Overall handicap rankings: Handicap Rankings

Individual handicap events and winners for 2023 are:

• 100m Handicap (Thu 18 Jan 24): ???

• Mile Handicap (Fri 30 Jun): John Goodbody

• Half Mile Handicap (Fri 21 Jul): Tim Kendall

• Quarter Mile Handicap (Fri 04 Aug): Simon Williams

• Sealed 100m Freestyle Handicap (Thu 5 Oct): Emma Monkhouse

• 200m Handicap (Sun 17 Dec): Anita Goyos

• 125m Handicap (Thu 17 Nov): Delyth Williams

• Veteran’s 50m Handicap (Thu 18 Jan 24): Simon Williams

• 150m Handicap (Sun 13 Nov): Daniel Lobo

• 50m Handicap (Thu 17 Nov): Will Wall

• 400m IM Handicap (Sun 9 Oct): Douglas Flockhart

Historical HANDICAP RESULTS

A full list of historical handicap event winners can be found here: Historical Handicap Winners

Previous and current year's results:

• 2022 Handicp Results

• 2019 Handicap Results

• 2018 Handicap Results

• 2017 Handicap Results

• 2016 Handicap Results