Thank you to all those who attended the annual presentation evening which took place at Harefield Cricket Club on Saturday 13th January 2024.
Following a rare opportunity to socialise with a drink in our hands and our clothes on, we moved to the formal part of the evening.
Paul kicked off the presentation of awards with the Top Man and Top Lady trophies - this is given to the swimmer accumulating the most points at competitions when representing the club. Karen Butterworth took the cup for the Top Lady and Roy Wilson for the Top Man.
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Congratulations to both swimmers! A breakdown of the points and other contenders for the titles is posted on the website here.
Next came the most improved swimmer trophies which were presented by Roger. The first to be awarded was to Clair. Clair is not only a regular swimmer, she is often the first to sort ropes and has been active on the committee. She was recognised for her determination to return to swimming following injury and achieving great improvement in the pool over the last year.
Cor was the second recipient of this award. Often the first in the pool and never missing a session. Cor has made fantastic improvements this year, moving steadily up through the lanes. Very well done to both swimmers!
Next came the most improved swimmer trophies which were presented by Roger. The first to be awarded was to Clair. Clair is not only a regular swimmer, she is often the first to sort ropes and has been active on the committee. She was recognised for her determination to return to swimming following injury and achieving great improvement in the pool over the last year.
Cor was the second recipient of this award. Often the first in the pool and never missing a session. Cor has made fantastic improvements this year, moving steadily up through the lanes. Very well done to both swimmers!
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Next came the Challenge Award which was presented by Roger. This is given for undertaking a challenge or something notable we should recognise - not necessarily swimming related. This year the committee unanimously agreed the award should go to Mark Johansen. As previously reported on our website Mark completed a fantastic achievement, the 'triple crown' which is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of three historically important swims: The English Channel, Manhattan 20 Bridges, (a 28.5 mile circumnavigation swim around Manhattan Island, New York City) and finally The Catalina Channel, (20 miles between Santa Catalina Island and the California mainland). Well done Mark, amazing!
Finally Paul awarded the David Dines Memorial Trophy (Chairman's award) for services to the Club. This new trophy was previously awarded to Penny and I was very pleased to receive the award this year. We have a great club and I’m so pleased to have a role in keeping us swimming, thank-you.
Following a plentiful buffet the evening moved into some less formal activities. Firstly, the engineering team-working skills were put to a test with a Spaghetti Tower building challenge. Success or failure, it didn’t matter, there were some fantastic creations.
After a raffle and drinks break, the refreshed teams moved onto some tricky challenges in an attempt to win more stars for their team. Dextrous use of chopsticks moving nuts proved more difficult than it looked but was largely achievable, but biscuit balancing proved nearly impossible - it was great fun to watch though! With balloon races, ping pong ball bouncing and paper plane flying the stars were building for all the teams but there could only be one winning team - well done to Joelie, Rod, Roger and Clair.
Thank-you to everyone for joining in, taking on new challenges and making it a memorable fun evening.
By Chris Rowley
More photos by Paddy Rowley below
After a raffle and drinks break, the refreshed teams moved onto some tricky challenges in an attempt to win more stars for their team. Dextrous use of chopsticks moving nuts proved more difficult than it looked but was largely achievable, but biscuit balancing proved nearly impossible - it was great fun to watch though! With balloon races, ping pong ball bouncing and paper plane flying the stars were building for all the teams but there could only be one winning team - well done to Joelie, Rod, Roger and Clair.
Thank-you to everyone for joining in, taking on new challenges and making it a memorable fun evening.
By Chris Rowley
More photos by Paddy Rowley below
