Inspired by lifelong Highgate Pond Swimmer Al Alvarez (celebrated poet, author, mountain-climber, poker player, and gentleman), a couple of middle-aged Northwest London professionals started swimming in the Highgate Men's Pond in September 2011. As the days started getting colder, friends, acquaintances, and friends-of-friends started joining the weekend swims in the increasingly-glacial waters. Because the weekly training is carried out in the Highgate Men's Pond, the all-male team decided to honour the most successful (and most controversial) swimming team: the legendary 1976 East German Ladies Swimming Team, the vanquisher of all opponents at the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.
We meet every Saturday and Sunday at the top of Parliament Hill, have a short run around the Heath, and then descend on the Highgate Men's Pond for a swim. That's it. Since our founding, we have participated as a team in several open water swimming events in teh UK and elsewhere in Europe. If you have any interest in joining us on our weekly swims throughout the year, please feel free to register with us via this site.