Club riding crest of wave after 45 years

The starter's gun cracked and teenager Joy Beasley went on to break the official British record for her 100 metres backstroke three times at the Olympics.

It was 1976 and the super swimmer, then aged 13, was competing in her first games in Montreal.

The youngster is one of the success stories of Halesowen Swimming Club which is currently riding on the crest of a wave 45 years after it was launched.

On May 17, 1963, members of the community gathered in the borough hall in Old Hawne Lane with the intention of forming a swimming club at the local pool, which was then in its final stages of construction.

It was agreed that club nights would be staged every Friday, the first being held on July 26, 1963, with the baths being hired at a rate of 30 shillings (£1.50) per hour.

Such was the excitement that on the first night the queues stretched into the town centre, leaving volunteers no option but to resort to desperate selection methods, walking down the stream of prospective swimmers, using a broom handle to measure them, excluding those thought to be too short to swim in deep water. With a waiting list of hundreds, members sank all their efforts into getting a learners' pool added to the facilities provided at the new baths. The then chairman Joe Bradley told members at the second annual dinner and dance that every club night parents would turn up asking if their children could join the pool to learn to swim.

In 1970 the club claimed it was paying the price of its success when the borough council increased the cost of using the baths by an extra 10s. The higher pool charges led to a proposed rise in the annual subscription to 15s for seniors and 8s for juniors.

At the club's 10th anniversary bash at the Station Hotel Dudley, Mr Bradley who was now president, toasted a successful decade.

He especially praised George Staniland, the first club secretary, and said: "When we put him in office we asked him to tell us about swimming - but we learned something more, how to keep an open mind and an open heart, to try to help everyone whether they wished to improve their swimming or life-saving."

The following year a shy young Joy Beasley, now Mitchell, was the first club swimmer to be selected for England at the age of 12. She went on to compete in the Olympics, breaking her own British record in the 100 metres backstroke on the eve of her 14th birthday. On arriving home she told the Press: "As I touched, I looked up and saw the clock and I realised that I had done it."

There were celebrations when members bagged a clutch of trophies winning the Worcester Inter-Club championship, the Bromsgrove Sport for All rose bowl and for the fifth year running the Solihull News relay gala award. The smiling youngsters are pictured in 1979, the trophies proudly displayed on the poolside.

Fast forward to the turn of the Millennium and the club was continuing to nurture sensational swimmers.

Champion Rick Andrews produced winning performances in 2002 in the 400 metres and 1,500 metres freestyle in the Worcester County Championships.

More recently the senior team made the final of the West Midlands Speedo League first division for the first time last December. In April the team were crowned Worcester Winter League Champions for the first time since 1984 and have now been crowned Worcester County Relay Champions for the first time since 1986.

Chairman Duncan Edmonds said: "Achievements have varied in the 45-year history of the club with many highs and lows. Swimmers with their roots at Halesowen have gone on to compete in Olympic Games in the 1970s and '80s.

"However, as the club entered the 21st Century, success has become more commonplace and many of the long-standing members have argued the last 18 months has been one of the most memorable and successful."

He added: "Of course a lot has changed over the years and the club has been well placed to become very professional in its operations and is a national leader in achieving the quality marks of Swim 21 and Sport England's Clubmark. We can enjoy our recent successes but the challenge for us is to build on our recent achievements and become better still, while maintaining the family feel among the members."

Today the club has 250 swimmers from aged five to 75. Mr Edmonds added: "The main objective has always been to develop competitive swimming but the strong family ethos means that members have a strong sense of belonging."

As well as all the swimming, over the years members have enjoyed dinners and dances. At one memorable novelty dance, female members ditched the swimwear and opted for stockings as they styled themselves as St Trinians girls.

Five members have been honoured with a life membership. The first was the original club secretary Mr Staniland, then Olympian Joy Beasley.

On the 40th anniversary former chairman and president Godfrey Harper became the third and then to coincide with the 45th anniversary, former president Marion Bench and current president Robert Edmond also joined the elite group.