History

Ipswich Swimming Club was founded in 1884.

It started in humble beginnings at Stoke Bathing place on the River Orwell. The Club remained here for several years until the Bathing place was destroyed by storm damage leading to the water becoming highly polluted.

The facilities available to the club today are excellent. The centre of the clubs activities are based at Crown Pools Ipswich, the most prestigious swimming complex in Suffolk. The complex was opened the year the club celebrated its Centenary.

The club also uses two smaller pools in the town for much of its teaching activities. The aim of the club is to start at grass roots level by teaching water confidence to young children. Basic swimming skills are then taught leading on to good stroke technique. Once they have reached a certain standard swimmers are given the opportunity to move to competitive swimming squads.

Our Chief Coach is Dave Champion who is a current England Coach. He is fully supported by two hard working Teacher/Coaches and a number of equally hard working Instructor/Teachers. Since his appointment the club has gone from strength to strength and there is a great feeling of camaraderie as well as competitiveness amongst the swimmers. His method of training has been extremely successful and he has proved to be a very popular coach.

We are not a very big club but we can boast two international swimmers in Karen Pickering and Zoe Cray. The club is also well represented by an ever increasing number of young National/District Age-Group qualified swimmers.

We compete in local galas and leagues. Our younger swimmers swim in the Eastern Junior League which could lead them to the National Speedo Junior Inter-League Swimming Competition.

The Club holds an Open Meet every February and October and a Sprint meet in July all of which are very successful. The Club also has a Waterpolo section for seniors, juniors and beginners. Club members can also swim on Tuesday evenings after the main training sessions.