The History of Wellington (Telford) Swimming Club

Wellington Amateur Swimming Club as formed on 2nd of March 1952 with the original committee including Mr Lewis Jones, Mr S. B. Hoare (you may recall this name, as one of our special award trophies was named in honour of his daughter, P.B. Hoare), Mr R. Hall, Mr J. Houghton, Mr M. Lucock and Mrs A Haseley. First recorded minutes can be traced back to 1954.

It would seem appropriate to mention that Bert Wedge was one of the first members and progressed to become swimming teacher for the club and later Chief Coach in 1977 – we all know that over the years he proceeded to various positions and also was holding official posts for the British Swimming Association. Lately, being the President of the club and on occasion, he still puts on his training shorts to assist on pool side.

The club originally held only one session per week at the old swimming baths, recorded to be on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9pm – and to this day, still our main club night. At present, the club provides training and coaching on 6 days per week with over 10 sessions to suit various abilities and also different activities.

The club proceeded to move to the new pool when it officially opened at the Civic and Leisure Centre in December 1981. Over the years, the club has produced many distinguished swimmers and County and Midland swimmers, the most famous being Joyce Dixon who swam for Wales in the 100 metre Backstroke at the British Empire Games. Other swimmers include Carol Hampton, Lynn Harris, Angela Jones and Roger Tonks – Roger being a former Midland Junior Breaststroke Champion.

Swimmers of the club continued to achieve awards at regional and even national level. Some proceeded to be successful in participating in team sports outside the area whilst remaining a member of the club – these include Jenny Braddock who was a member of the British National Water Polo Team for over 13 years and in her time proceeded to notable medal positions at European level. It is therefore no surprise that she offered her experience to train the club swimmers in playing water polo upon her return to Wellington.

The philosophy of the club remained the same over the years – to provide a welcoming environment for swimmers to learn and to train to the best of their own ability and to support those that show great promise and ambition to succeed to the highest possible level.

Professional coaching is the main priority of the club whilst anticipating to provide a friendly family atmosphere – our members are people, not numbers. To ensure that children enjoy the sport of swimming and hopefully to continue to participating in sport for as long as possible, a little fun and variety is added to the training program.