History of Trojans Swim Club

Trojans Swim Club was formed by (the late) John Beaumont MNZM, based at a pool bearing his own name - John Beaumont Swim Centre (now Hilton Brown Swimming), in Havelock North. Built in 1968, the pool was the first privately owned commercial heated pool in the country. John remained deeply involved in the club through until his retirement in 2008, acknowledged with a Service Honours Award for 25 years service to swimming, shortly followed by his investiture as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in 2009.

Historic moments in the club's history include Carmel Clark making the 100m and 200m Backstroke finals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and Paralympian Duane Kale claiming four gold medals and world records at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. Two other swimmers, Guy Callaghan (1992 Barcelona) and Daniel Bell (2008 Beijing, 2012 London) have gone on to represent other clubs at the Olympics after first making their mark as Trojans.

In addition, the club claimed a wealth of podium finishes at New Zealand's top age group and open chamionships throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

Following John Beaumont's retirement, the club went into hibernation in 2008.

Trojans' second coming

In response to the growing demands of the swimming community, Trojans Swim Club was reinstated in April 2016 by former Trojan, Daniel Bell, based at the Clive War Memorial Pool. A committed group of mostly junior swimmers achieved almost instant success, with an established group of athletes alongside up-and-comers now claiming successes at regional and national championship level.

Trojans' current Head Coach Kirsty Johnson joining the coaching team in December 2019, progressing to the head coach role in May 2022 following a period as the club's junior coach. The club has gone from strength to strength, taking sessions to the state-of-the-art Hawke's Bay Regional Aquatic Centre upon its opening in late 2022, and welcoming the hugely experienced Phil Melhuish as Coaching Consultant in early 2023.

At the 2024 National Age Group Championships, Trojans claimed a club record 9 national medals, was the 16th-ranked club across all of New Zealand, and was Hawke's Bay's best-performing club by some margin.