Penguins’ half century

3:51pm Wednesday 28th May 2008

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THE swimming club in Marlborough, known as the Penguins, is 50 this year.

However a search of old records has thrown up details of a swimming club that was in existence in he town 100 years ago.

Where they swam is a mystery because the original open-air pool in Kennet Place was built in the 1920s.

There are two possibilities: members either used the unheated former open-air pool at Marlborough College or a part of the river at Treacle Bolly that some older people to this day refer to as the Washpool.

If anyone knows where they swam the club would love to know.

The town's open-air pool between the two streams of the River Kennet closed in the early 1980s.

The old pool was a concrete basin above the ground and after more than a half century of providing pleasure and swimming tuition began to crumble.

A survey of townspeople showed that they would have liked the site to be turned into a small park with a paddling pool.

Kennet District Council ignored the local mandate and decided to allow the Town Mill retirement homes to be built there.

The club flourished again when the town's first indoor pool opened at Barton Park in 1984 and before long there were two heated indoor pools when Marlborough College opened its own.

Over the years Marlborough Swimming Club has taught hundreds of children to swim and encouraged them to compete. It was formed on May 21 1958 when a group of enthusiasts established a programme of activities at the old open-air pool.

For a decade or so swimmers shivered until a series of fundraising events helped pay for a heating system.

Use of the pool was extended from April 1 to September 30. In 1972 further fundraising paid for a clubhouse.

In 1984 the club moved to the new indoor pool and leisure centre at Barton Park built under a scheme financed by the Town Council, Kennet and land-owners Marlborough College.

Today the club has 350 members, mainly children aged as young as five, and is one of the most successful of the 28 clubs in Wiltshire.

Treasurer Brian Hey, who has been involved for many years, praised people who have given loyal service as coaches and teachers.

"Over the years the club has been blessed with a group of dedicated coaches and teachers who freely volunteer their time from the president to the club coach who along with many others regularly staff the pool side teaching all ages the enjoyment if swimming."