Enfield Swimming Club to close after 108 years (From Enfield Independent)

Enfield Swimming Club closure paves way for success of Enfield Swim Squad

11:32am Tuesday 29th November 2011 in News By Tristan Kirk

ONE of the oldest swimming clubs in the country is closing down after 108 years in operation.

Enfield Swimming Club, which started teaching and training swimmers in 1903, has announced it is being wound up as of tomorrow.

Its members will join the newly-formed Enfield Swim Squad, created by the merger of Edmonton Phoenix and Griffins swimming clubs.

A statement on the Enfield Swimming Club website broke the news, saying: “We would like to thank all members and their families for their loyalty and commitment to Enfield Swimming Club over the years.

“We are all very saddened to see the termination of the club but be assured there are exciting times ahead for the swimmers with the formation of one swimming club in Enfield.”

The closure comes as negotiations between Enfield Swim Squad and Enfield Council's leisure centre operators Fusion Lifestyle appear to be reaching a conclusion.

A row broke out in September when the clubs claimed Fusion was trying to take away their swimming lessons programme - which provided much of the funding to sustain competitive training at the clubs - without any guarantee of subsidies or acceptable amounts of time at the borough's public swimming pools.

However, Vicky McCarthy, newly-appointed chairman of Enfield Swim Squad, said following a series of “positive meetings”, they are closer to striking a deal.

She said: “The issue with teaching has been temporarily resolved and it has been agreed to leave the teaching with us.

“We have also had positive discussions about all the pool time allocated between the three clubs being given to the new one club.”

She added: “We made the point and they have accepted that we are not just acting as a club, we are a huge group of people using Enfield's leisure centres as Enfield residents and we have as much right to use them as members of the public.”

Dan Reynolds, head of sports and community development at Fusion, said the organisation was “now taking steps to map how we move forward and benefit swimming development in Enfield".

He said: "By working together to maximise pool time available we can be more efficient on the pool space and make sure its being used to ensure the squads get the best use of time they require. "We can also programme in other users, including school time, special sessions, aqua classes as well as general swimmers."

Barry Thomas, head coach of Edmonton Phoenix, said the merger marks a major step forward for Enfield swimming, allowing the borough to compete with the big clubs across London.

He said: “At the moment we are losing swimmers to outside Enfield.

“A swimmer I used to coach went to Hatfield and is now trying to make the Olympics. He wouldn't have been able to stay in Enfield because he didn't have the water time.

“With the new arrangements, we will be able to step up to the next level and be on the same level as some of the best in the country with the same amount of water time that they get.”