CITY OF NORWICH SWIMMING CLUB
OUR VISION AND VALUES
To enable every member to become their best and developing a life-long love of swimming is the foundation for all that we do. Central to achieving our vision is a core set of shared values:
- People – Our swimmers, coaches, volunteers, officials, administrators and swim parents. We care about and develop our people to become their best for the benefit of our programme.
- High-performance – Our culture supports our members at every level to smartly channel their energy and focus into delivering excellence. We recognise that high-performance looks very different for each member.
- Empowerment – We develop our members to make their own informed decisions and enjoy a level of autonomy within our environment. With empowerment comes an expectation of respect, responsibility, ownership and team ethos. These life skills will also benefit our members away from our environment.
- Long-term – Our programme is focused on developing our people long-term. This will enable our members to enjoy a life-long love of swimming. The benefit to our club will be a consistent approach and progressive performances.
- Diversity – As a ‘club for all’ we are a group of people from different backgrounds and cultures who share a love of swimming and the will to succeed.
Our swimming club can be dated back to 1930 when a group of young people decided to form a club. They had been
meeting regularly at the old Swan Baths and their main aquatic interest was diving. The Club was initially as the
Heigham Penguins Mixed Swimming Club. In its first year the Club grew to almost 100 members and held Club
nights on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Swan Baths which had been open since 1879 closed in 1931 leaving Norwich without an indoor swimming pool.
The Club moved to the River Wensum and what was then known as the Eagle Baths. There was a ladies-only section
and the men swam in the open river. Norwich City Council built a 5 metre diving platform on the bank of the river
for the club to use. However without an indoor pool the club faced a challenge to stay in existence and membership
numbers dropped.
Derek Harcourt was part time Chief Coach throughout the 1960’s. Doug England took over in the early 1970’s
coaching the competitive squad at the Earlham (Spinney) pool. Both remained teachers with the Club to the end of the 1990’s.
In the 1970’s a number of Norwich schools built their own swimming pools and club member Stan Parker was
instrumental in obtaining water time for the club. The learn-to-swim section quickly grew and fed an increasing
number of promising young swimmers through to the training squad at the Hewett School pool. This pyramid
progression continues to the present day and has been the lifeblood for the success of the club.
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