History of the Mt Eden Swimming Club

The Mt Eden Swimming Club has been functioning for over 100 years. It became an Incorporated Society in 1955 based on a long-term plan to acquire the Mt Eden Swimming Pool in Bellevue Road. At that time the pool was an open-air pool with a high diving platform and associated deep pool. By borrowing funds and with countless hours of voluntary labour the Club members and its helpers transformed the pool into an all seasons, covered, and heated pool facility. Upon completion of the work in 1965, Auckland Council transferred ownership of the pool to the Club. An independent Trust Board was established at this time to run and administer the pool for the benefit of the Mt Eden Swimming Club, but always honouring the commitments that had been made to the Council, as to the way in which the pool should also operate i.e., for the benefit of the community, the public, the local school, and the neighbourhood. The Trust Board continues to this day to manage the lease and seek funding to maintain and improve this facility. The current lessee is Dean Greenwood Swim School (DGSS).

In 2011 the DGSS was approached at the Kelston Girls College pool to rent some pool space to a small group of swimmers who had been swimming with Duck n Dive swim school and competing for a small swimming club they had running at that time. DGSS employed their coach and established a development level training program to accommodate the swimmers at KGC. As they were already competitive swimmers, and DGSS was associated with Mt Eden Swimming Club, it was decided to transfer the swimmers to Mt Eden Swimming Club so that they could continue racing. The programme grew from both internal graduation from the swim school and as an alternative to other west Auckland swimming clubs. The squads that operate out of the KGC facility now form an integral part of the Mt Eden Swimming Club.

The first head coach, when the indoor pool was completed, at the Mt Eden Swimming club was Morry Doidge. In those early years he trained many of New Zealand’s top swimmers. Hisashi Inomata came to New Zealand in 1965 to take up a contract with Morry Doidge for the coaching of the competitive swimming squad of the Mt Eden Swimming Club. The current coaching team is led by Director of Coaching Dean Greenwood whose coaches run the various squads across the two facilities.

Over the years the Mt Eden Swimming Club competitive squads have included numerous swimmers who went on to represent, and have international success, at World Championships, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

This is a club, with a very long and proud history as the Mt Eden Swimming Club.