I’ve had a few days off from updating the site to review performances in the important bit about OW swimming – posing for the photos.  Unfortunately, it’s hard not to conclude that we’ve become a bit lax and while some efforts are being made, we really have to try harder next year.

As this great video from Denis Condon and Anne Sheehy shows, we’re doing reasonably well at organising picture taking at the Turkey Swims.  We’ve got the “posing in lines on the beach” part pretty well sorted….

Good posing – but a bit dated and perhaps lacking in props.  Still, a valid effort.

It’s what happens from there on that the real problems are.  This shambling, messy walk into the water with no style or co-ordination.

The dogs on the street can see this is shambolic – no clear focus point, everyone doing their own thing. Just not good enough.

Better effort made here at the Marymount Hospice swim on New Year’s Eve. Well done to all who participated!

We need to up our game – big time.  Fortunately, extensive research has led me to realise what we’re missing and how we need to improve things.  We need A FLAG!

This is how it’s done – The Cryophil Winter Swimming Club in Siberia. We need a flag for next year – definitely.  And one of those green garlandy things.

In fairness, this crowd know how to make an entrance and we can take their lead.  No more wandering down the slip and on to the beach.  We’ll form up for parade by the boathouse and march into the sea.  Class.

For the Turkey Swims, we’ll substitute a tree for the flag…

Possible Turkey Swim parade format for 2015.

Then we’ll have a King and Queen of the Turkey Swims to lead us into the water.

King and Queen of Turkey (swims) get to lead the swimmers into the water. Just me or can anyone else see Anne and Denis leading this out next year?  They’re the heads off them.

Swim tomorrow morning at 08.15 as usual.  Might be too soon for the flag to have arrived by then, but we can still practice our parading 🙂