Members and coaches past and present turned out in good numbers as the acclaimed Tuam Swimming Club celebrated 75 years in existence with a well-attended function in the town.

Since its foundation in 1950, the club has competed successfully at Connacht, national and international levels as well as providing coaching to the local community on a continuous basis.

The club were due to celebrate their 70th anniversary five years ago but the onset of Covid at the time prevented this from happening.

However, the event to celebrate 75 years in existence took place in the Ard Ri House Hotel in Tuam with dedicated members Helen Kealy, Celia Davin and Enda Burke being prominent in the event’s organisation. While there is a significant body of information available on the early years of the club and the people who were instrumental in its inception, the trawl through the archives also uncovered other interesting snippets of information on the history of organised swimming in Tuam.

While 1950 is often regarded as the start date of an official swimming club in Tuam, there is a lot of evidence of swimming groups in the town in the 1930s and ’40s which seem to have lapsed after an initial flurry of activity.

Further evidence of interest in and enthusiasm for swimming in Tuam can be seen in an ad in the Connacht Tribune in July 1932 where tenders were sought for the construction of a swimming bath in the town.

In 1945, there was a renewed effort to provide a pool in Tuam and it was well supported when £350 was raised, with Archbishop Joseph Walsh making the largest contribution of £30.

Despite these and other efforts over the succeeding years, it was not until 1971 that the dream of a pool in Tuam was finally realised with the opening of a fine five-lane heated indoor facility. This was the culmination of years of campaigning and fundraising by swimming club members and other enthusiasts in the town.

There can be little doubt that all of these pre-1950 efforts helped develop a very strong interest in swimming in Tuam so that when it was decided to start, or re-start, the club that year there was already a dedicated and talented cohort of swimmers, divers and officials in the area.

The present club was founded by furniture maker Al O’Dea, a native of Kinvara, Billy Heskin and Leo Stockwell.  Those involved in its early years included Miko and Hilary Walsh, Gay Moloney, Kevin and Paschal O’Brien, Eamon Lynch, Mick Barrett, George Lyons and Mickey Leo.

The club had only three competitors on its first day in open competition, but quite remarkably all three were, in time, elected President of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association. They were Gay Walsh (1964), Monsignor Dermot Moloney (1976) and Gay Heskin (1984).

The club dominated the Connacht Championships over a period with Gay Heskin being unbeaten in the province in springboard and platform diving for nearly 30 years.

In 1954, Fr Dermot Moloney won the Irish Boys 100m Freestyle title and added the Men’s 1500 Freestyle Championship in 1957, becoming the first Connacht man to win a national swimming title.

With the opening of the new pool, the club saw a huge surge in membership and Fr Moloney was the first coach. It wasn’t long until Tuam swimmers were once again to the fore on the national stage as a new generation of stars was born.

It brought along a whole new generation of swimmers in the ‘80s and ‘90s including Marie Browne, Catriona and Jim Reilly, Jim Colleran, Jim Hahessy, John Horan, Alan McIntyre, Dermot Canavan, Padraig Mitchell, Paul Coady, Marion Hughes, John Brennan, Gerard and Martin Francis, Judy Heskin, Maria Frawley and Fiona McCormack to name but a few.

Over the years, many others have given unselfishly of their time and talents in the training of young swimmers. Joan Tighe, Mary Hardiman, Peter Long, Marka Gilhooley, Martha Newell, Daithi Quinn, Celia Davin, Helen Kealy, Joe Long, Simon Coffey, Mer Lulling, Margaret Parker, Mary Corless and Aidan Burke are among that number.

The current cohort of coaches includes Enda Burke, Odie Melia, Norma O’Rourke, Helen Waters, Timothy Begley, Lisa Barber, Derek Mitchell, Marie Comer and Helen Kealy.

Pictured: The organising committee Helen Kealy, Enda Burke and Celia Davin at the Tuam Swimming Club 75th Anniversary Social in the Ard Ri House Hotel, Tuam. Photo: Jacinta Fahy Photography.