Club plans cracker of an anniversary

Henry Taylor

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A LOCAL swimming club, which helped to train the most successful British swimming Olympian of all time, is celebrating its 120th anniversary this month.

Chadderton Amateur Swimming Club is marking its milestone birthday with a Christmas Cracker event on Tuesday, December 16, at Chadderton Wellbeing Centre’s Henry Taylor Pool, named after the club’s most famous member.

The festive gala will include a number of special races between past and present members of all ages.

Club president Duncan Prince, looking forward to an evening of fun, said: “We’ve got a lot of different things planned that we’re hoping will go down really well. We’ve organised a handicap race which will allow people of all ages to race against each other.

“We will take each member’s personal best time for this season and then swimmers will get a head start based on that.

“Ideally, that would mean that everybody should finish around the same time, but a lot of the youngsters really put their all into the race and end up breaking their own record with a win.

“We’re also hoping that our two oldest swimmers, who are in their 60s and 70s, will take part in a session swim with our two youngest members.”

The evening will also feature a plunge event, in which people will dive off a starting block and measure how far they can get without kicking their legs, and a golden oldies race.

Mr Prince said: “We have invited a lot of past members to come and race against our current team.”

The club is the oldest in the area and helped to train Britain’s swimming star of the early 20th Century.
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