“Swimming Pool Commitee Formed – Hopes for 1963”. This was the headline on the front page of the Campbelltown, Ingleburn and District News on the 9th May 1961, in the days when our local paper cost 4 pence.
On Thursday 9th November 1961, four time Olympic Gold Medallist, John Devitt, spoke at a meeting saying he thought it to be unique to form a Swimming Club before a pool had been built. The late John Marsden was the first secretary and a key figure in the establishment of the club. Both Mr Marsden and Mr Devitt are life members of the Campbelltown Amateur Swimming and Life Saving Club.
First trials of the new Club were held at the private swimming pool of Mr E Walsh at Leumeah. The Club held swimming carnivals in the 15m metre length pool owned by Mr Walsh that had no filtering system and looked a bit muddy. The Club continued to train at that pool for some years or alternatively trained in the Nepean River, always swimming against the current.
Despite these difficulties the Club used itself as a pressure group to try and encourage the local council to build an Olympic sized pool in the Campbelltown district. Initially Liverpool, Cabramatta and Auburn offered the use of their pools for our swimming carnivals but it was on Friday the 2nd February 1962, when more than 100 swimmers from the Campbelltown District attended the first club night at Liverpool Olympic Pool.
Since these early days, and after many meetings, The Campbelltown Swimming Centre was built on the Parkway at Bradbury and officially opened on 11th March 1967. The Club has gradually grown to be recognised as an extremely competitive one.
During 1988, the club became Incorporated. In doing so, the Club adopted a new Constitution, aims and objectives. At this time the Club changed it’s name to the Campbelltown Amateur Swimming Club Incorporated, which it is now know as today.
Times change and progress dictated that for Campbelltown to produce it’s own local champions an indoor facility was required to provide year round training and recreational facilities. After further lobbying by the Club, a 25m Indoor Pool Complex was opened on the 12th September, 1987. Adding to that a refurbishment of the outdoor pool completed in 2012 provided solar heating to the outdoor pool. This has extended the swimming season outdoors by a month either side
Our club has produced many outstanding successes.
Alan Thompson our former coach went on to become first the Australian Swim Team Manager and then the Australia Swimming Head Coach for the Beijing Olympics.
John Saliba was Australian Open Water Team Manager for many years and was a pioneer in providing the guidelines for Open Water Swimming for Swimming NSW and Swimming Australia.
Jim Piper, Trent Steed and Felicity Galvez all represented Australia at the Olympics.
Mark Saliba is a former World open Water Champion and was the first swimmer to swim under 5 hours for a 25km swim.
Patrick Donachie OAM represented and medalled for Australia at the Paralympics and countless world championships.