City of Rochester 

Swimming and Lifeguard Club

Synopsis of the First 100 Years of the Club and its Members:

In the nineteenth century, swimming was a simple recreational activity with no
formal competitive events, it was a popular activity then as it is today, because no
specialist equipment was required, and it was free from financial restraint.
Furthermore, it was and still is an extremely refreshing experience to swim in a clear
river with a sandy bed or in the sea on a hot summer’s day.

In the latter half of the century groups of people had gathered together to formalise
their respective activities, and thereby established swimming clubs in various parts
of the county. In Kent the following swimming clubs were established: Maidstone
(1844), Blackheath Harriers (1869), Tunbridge Wells Cygnus (1875), Canterbury
(1877), Lewisham (1884) and Dover (1886).

The Medway Swimming Club was founded in 1896, little or nothing is known about
the club in its early days other than all its training and swimming activities were
centred on a raft moored in the river quite close to Rochester Bridge. This raft was
called “The Sphere” and it was there, in the modish costumes of the time that the
club members trained and swam in the summer months for quite a few years. There
was in those days little or no co-ordination or organised galas or swimming meets,
and competitions were always arranged on an ad hoc basis. The Sphere was
eventually disposed of when the club moved to the Watts Baths, a small indoor pool
on Willis Avenue, shortly after the end of the 1914-1918 war.

Life was not always easy in those early days and whilst the club had its share of
promising young swimmers, they never set the world alight. Following the
demolition of the Watts Baths which had been converted into a slipper baths, the
City Fathers provided an open air swimming pool further along Willis Avenue (now
known as The Esplanade) on the river side which was opened in 1935. The opening
gala was indeed a lavish affair and was, in fact, staged not only to mark the opening
of the pool but also to mark the Silver Jubilee of HM King George V. The City
Corporation presented a magnificent Silver Cup to the recently formed Rochester &
District Swimming Association (later to become the Medway ASA) commemorating
the King’s Silver Jubilee.

This swimming gala became an annual event of prestigious importance and even to
this day the Jubilee Cup is competed for annually by clubs affiliated to that body.
We are extremely proud of the fact that our amalgamated partners the Medway
Swimming Club were the first winners of the King George V Silver Jubilee Trophy in
1935.

Along came the 1939-1945 war and the clubs activities like many others in the
country went into suspended animation, from which it never recovered. In 1946 the
Rochester Swimming Club came into being through the hard work and dedication of
the Mayor of the City at that time Alderman J C Lyle JP who, with Mr F W Carver,
began to revitalise swimming in the city once again.

The membership of the Rochester Swimming Club began to grow and competitions
in swimming, diving, and water polo were organised by the then Medway ASA and
the club began to compete annually with the other clubs of the association, namely
Maidstone SC, Gillingham SC, Sheerness SC, Gravesend SC, and RN Barrack,
Chatham.

In 1948 the officials of the Medway Swimming Club and the Rochester Swimming
Club got together and agreed to amalgamate into one club, all the championship
trophies of the Medway Swimming Club were given to the newly formed club which
became the Rochester and Medway Swimming Club. The club had a total
membership of 126 members at this time.

This established the continuity of the Medway Swimming Club from 1896. The club
continued to function under this title until 1957 when it was thought prudent to
change the name once again in the light of the name of the local Amateur Swimming
Association, the change was agreed and the new title became the City of Rochester
Swimming Club.

In 1978 following the numerous successes of the Lifeguard section of the club it was
decided to embody Lifeguarding into the club’s name and from that time onwards
the club was called the City of Rochester Swimming & Lifeguard Club.
Our water polo team of pre 1939-1945 war and post war years was never a top flight
one and almost nothing is recorded about its activities. The team only lasted a few
years competing in the water polo leagues of the Medway ASA in 1950, and
eventually, for a variety of reasons, ceased to exist.

Pat O’Connell HCR & Joanna M Cox B.Sc, M.Sc.

The above is an extract from the City of Rochester Swimming and Lifeguard Club
Centenary book 1896-1996