History

The origins of the Kent Town Swimming Club can be dated back as far as 1957 when the Norwood outdoor pool opened, and the inaugural Norwood Swimming Club was formed.

In 1958, the club changed its name to the Kensington and Norwood Amateur Swimming Club and had a membership of 70. The chosen club colours were navy blue and red. From 1958 to 1965 the club grew to a membership of 233 and in summer months the club provided learn to swim classes, competitive swimming training, water polo, Royal Life Saving courses and weekly club time trials for its members.

By 1969 membership numbers reduced and with rumours circulating that the Norwood outdoor pool might be closing, the Kensington and Norwood Swimming Club moved to the relatively new George Bolton Swimming Pool (Burnside pool ) in Hazelwood Park. To reflect the new training location, the club’s name was changed to Burnside Swimming Club and the colours were changed to black, white and tangerine. The new Burnside Club was successful and in 1970 it was awarded the West End Trophy as South Australian Club of the Year.

In the same year, Harry Gallagher (one of Australia’s best-known coaches, and the coach of Olympian, Dawn Fraser) came to South Australia and coached a group of swimmers which resulted in the formation of the Southside Amateur Swim Club in 1971.  

In 1973, the committees of Burnside and Southside Amateur Swimming Clubs decided to amalgamate, and the Burnside Southside Swimming Club was formed. The club colours were orange, jade green and navy blue. Thus began the most successful era in the club’s history. The membership grew to a record 404 members in 1984.

Burnside Southside dominated competitive swimming for many years and were named Team of the Year in 1978. In 1979 the club colours were changed to red, blue and white and have remained so to this day. The club became recognised in the national arena and was frequently ranked in the top 10 clubs in Australia.

A new club sponsor in 1984 saw another change in club name to ACI Burnside Southside. ACI sponsored the club for three years and when this sponsorship was not renewed members voted to delete “Southside” from the official name at the 1987 AGM on 3rd May. This saw the club revert to being Burnside Swimming Club. At this time, Burnside commenced training at the newly built Adelaide Aquatic Centre at North Adelaide.

In 2014, Burnside Swimming Club relocated our training to Kent Town Swim (PAC) under the guidance of Head Coach, Jason Dunlop. We transitioned to Kent Town Swim with a small number of swimmers following the loss of our previous coach. 

In 2017, Kent Town Swim approached the club to change our name to reflect our training facility. A special general meeting proposed the change of name and this proposal was unanimously voted in favour and in October 2017, we competed for the first time as the newly named Kent Town Swimming Club.