Page 78 - The Chapka 2016
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76 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN)
  Snorkels, Funny Hats And Neoprene... A Perfect Day Out
Contrary to popular opinion Louis’ nightclub isn’t the only place to get wet in Catterick. Despite the fragmentation of the committed year, both the Regimental Swimming and Wa- ter Polo teams have seen great success in the pool. The first plunge came not in the pool, but in the rather chilly waters of the south coast. Lieutenant Gardner led a team of five brave Lancers to Boscombe Beach for the Inter-Service Open Water Swimming Championships of 2016. Despite sterling efforts across the board the team departed with very cold feet and no silverware. Success, however, was just around the corner at Hodson’s Horse 2016.
Trooper Potter ‘The Otter’ assembled a crack team to take on the rest of The Royal Armoured Corps. With some excellent performances across the board – notably Sergeant Martin in goal – the team finished in second place, narrowly missing out on the top spot to a very strong RTR team. Most recently, the water polo team has taken on the best Catterick Garrison could throw at them in the UK North Water Polo Champion- ships 2017. This time ‘The Otter’ lead out a scratch team with several first time players. Highlights included a 9-0 rout of 4 SCOTS and a bruising 2-1 loss to, the eventual winners, The Royal Dragoon Guards. Corporal Buchan (HQ), Lance Cor-
poral Stone (D) and Trooper White (D) showed real promise and highlighted the depth the Regiment has in this sport. All the players dug deep to produce a respectable fourth place. As I write, the swimming team is in the mist of preparation for the UK North Swimming Championships – hopefully more success is just around the corner – and on the back of an ex- cellent year, a plan is forming to take a team away to warmer climes in 2018. Watch this space!
ARH
 The Royal Lancers Water Polo Team during Hodson’s Horse
Martial Arts in The Royal Lancers
The Royal Lancers martial arts team is currently based around two disciplines; Judo and British Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). Our antecedent regiments have previously dominated in Judo alone. With wider recognition from the Army, martial arts based sports such as BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) are becoming increasingly popular and there is growing interest in the Regi- ment to get things going. Based on our past performance and re- sults from Judo in 2016, 2017 should be our year of renaissance.
Dominating both British and Army Judo is Lance Corporal Parker, who is currently ranked sixth in Great Britain in his weight category. Lance Corporal Parker has spent the majority of the year training with the Army elite team with hopes of get- ting selected for Team GB’s Tokyo Olympics squad. In the last year he has won all Army Gold closed and open championships and major national titles taking him a step closer to the Olympic dream. He is constantly evolving with each competition as a na- tional, elite-level Judoka.
In BJJ (Gi and No Gi), Corporal Hart (RLC but attached to The Royal Lancers) and Trooper Ordinado (currently at RMAS) fly the flag for the Regiment. Both fighters have attended Judo skills courses and competed in Army Novice Judo Champion- ships to gain experience. Corporal Hart currently trains with Barnsley BJJ club. He has taken a Gold medal in the Army win- ter BJJ championships and walked away with Gold, Silver and Bronze in a civilian competition. Corporal Hart and Lance Cor- poral Parker have joined forces in the last year prior to the BJJ championships, establishing some ground-work training which has benefitted both parties and contributed to Corporal Hart’s Gold medal.
Trooper Ordinado’s success and dedication to the sport has found him entering competitions as far as the Philippines. Trooper Ordinado has entered a few Army championships where
he has continued to grow, taking Gold medal in the Army winter BJJ championships in his weight category. With his Judo back- ground, he is outshining fighters in his division and proving to be a future ambassador for The Royal Lancers in BJJ. He has proved his outstanding ground fighting capability by winning his last fight with a ‘choking out’ of his opponent: his master taught him well!
2017 will be a challenging year with a busy FOE for all of the team. However, with our competitive ethos and fighting spirit, we look to establish a more regular scene in Catterick. This is a year to build on our success and start a Royal Lancer MMA club that will go forward with the aim of dominating the British Army Championships. It goes without saying that we have been privileged to have huge support across the Regiment and this has allowed our soldiers to rise to the top as elite athletes both nationally and within the Army. On the back of this success we need to re-invest in the grass roots.
RM
   Corporal Hart
Lance Corporal Parker
Trooper Ordinado

















































































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