Aquatic Swim Club celebrates history, funds
MORTON » A fun time for Aquatic Swim Club members doesn’t always have to be at the pool on Amosland Road. How about at the Heritage Ballroom on MacDade Boulevard in Ridley Township from 7 to 10 p.m. on July 13 for the first ever Aquatic Swim Club Reunion, complete with food, music, a 3-hour open bar, raffle baskets and the opportunity to meet up with former club members and welcome newcomers. The cost is $40 per person, $75 a couple. The proceeds will be used to sustain the swim club. Other fund raising efforts are planned.
In a recent letter to swim club members by the Aquatic board it was noted that the club’s ability to provide services to members will be predicated on the successful outcome of the fundraisers.
The Aquatic Swim Club has a long history in Delaware County, dating back to 1907 when the site was known as Turner Lake. Based on research by board member Toni Ann Klimowicz, the swimming pool is the oldest operating swim club facility in Pennsylvania. Through the years the pool, that had a dirt bottom in its early years and was reportedly spring fed, was known as Meyers Swimming Pool, and then as the Morton Park Pool. The US Coast Guard used the pool as an aquatic training site during World War II and the pool was the home base for Bruce Harlan, a member of the 1948 Olympic Diving Team who went on to win the 3 Meter Springboard Gold Medal and the 10 Meter Springboard Silver Medal. W. Carter Merbreier, better known as television’s beloved Captain Noah, got his first job as locker boy at the pool and then became a lifeguard. It was one of the first pool’s in the area to offer a special electronic lift for people with disabilities so they could be lowered into the water safely and with ease.
Although the Aquatic Swim Club facility is more than 100 years old, it is today as modern and up to date as any of the county’s swim clubs. For more information, send an email to webmail@ aquaticclub.com