How it all Began

The History of the Club

Bere Regis & District Swimming Club- The Orcas: The beginning
Back in 1976 I was still very heavily involved in swimming. I was also on the PTA committee and a Governor at Bere Regis Primary School. The school at the time had a 12 ½ yard by 5 yard outdoor pool and it was used extensively for swimming lessons during the summer months.
In early 1976, I took an ASA teacher’s course and managed to pass it. My friend Jane Phillips, a teacher at the school, also took the course and passed. I began to think “What should I do with my new qualification?” and it occurred to me that it shouldn’t stop there. The thought of starting a swimming club in the village developed from that point and I found myself putting up posters in the village (no emails or Facebook in those days!) inviting people to a meeting at the school to talk about the possibility of starting a club.
The meeting was well attended and enough people came for us to form a steering committee to get the ball rolling. Villagers seemed definitely eager to support this new venture so we were under way!
We decided to hold our first club night at the school using the school pool. For those of you whose memories go back that far, 1976 was a very long hot summer. Our first club night on 14th. June was another scorcher and unbelievably 120 people including a number of adults turned up for a swimming lesson.
It was all very jolly and our three qualified teachers, Jane, myself and another good friend and teacher at the school, Bryan Clarke coped with the great turnout. Numbers settled a little after that first evening and we had some wonderful weekly meetings at the school under balmy evening skies.
However, autumn and winter were fast approaching so where would we swim during the long winter months? Step forward Sergeant Martin Ord from the Junior Leader Regiment at Bovington Camp. The Junior Leaders had their own pool at Bovington and I used to bring my Bridport water polo team to play matches against them. It was so successful that they won the Junior Leader championships that year. As a favour to me Martin arranged for our newly formed Bere Regis & District Swimming Club to regular Saturday afternoon sessions at the pool. It was only after a few years that we were discovered swimming at the pool by the Regimental Sergeant Major that we actually had to pay for pool hire and become official hirers of the facility! Of course this would never happen today where things are so tightly regulated but it gave our club a start and the rest as they say is history,
Bob Holman