INTRODUCTION  Tyldesley Swimming and Water Polo Club is one of the oldest and most respected Swimming and Water Polo Clubs in  the country, in fact it is believed that Tyldesley is the second oldest continuously running club in England having been  formed in 1876.  Caleb Wright opened the original baths in August 1876 with a Doctor Duncan being the first Club  President.  It has been an important part of the Tyldesley community ever since.  We are a competitive club and enter many swimming and water polo competitions throughout the year. The club has  always prided itself on its level of teaching and coaching skill and is currently Swim21 accredited for swimming teaching,  swimming skill development, water polo teaching and masters integrated swimming at foundation level. The club aims to teach children at different levels of competence in the water, to a standard where, if they so wish, can  compete firstly at club level, onto District, County and National Level. Indeed Tyldesley can boast two past Olympic  swimmers with Addin Tyldesley representing Great Britain at the 1908 Olympic Games, held in London and Duncan  Cleworth who represented Great Britain at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. More recently Jenny Coughlin  represented Great Britain in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney and in 2001 Khalid Jhugroo represented Great Britain in  the 5 km open water event at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. In 2010 Jaeger Turner broke the British  Record for the girl's 13 Years 50m backstroke. Many other swimmers have reached County, National and International  Level.  The club as its name implies has a first class water polo section with coaching from Junior through to Senior Level.  Again Tyldesley can boast several past and present players who have represented their County, Country and on to full  Great Britain status. The Senior Men team competed in the National Water Polo League Division 1 from 1999 to 2005  and qualified for the British Championships in 2005.  The team now play in Division 2 and are one of the few 'small town'  clubs playing in the National League.  The Ladies team will be playing in the Ladies National League Division 4 in 2011.  In 1998 the U18s Boys team won the ASA National Junior Men's Club Competition. In 2010 the U14s Girls team won the  ASA National Academy Girls Water Polo Competition.  Obviously, players have to be competent swimmers for this  demanding but rewarding sport. When your child first joins the club, he/she will be assessed by the Head of Teaching and will then be placed into a  group with children of the same standard.  The groups start from the complete beginner, through standards of width  swimmer (that is swimming widths of the pool) then onto lanes (full length of the pool).  Your child will be continuously assessed by their teacher and will be moved up to the next group only when the teacher  is satisfied of the child's ability (this applies to widths groups).  The teachers also continuously assess the Lane  swimmers but in addition there are 3 monthly Time Trials - a chance for the Chief Coach to see the improvement of each  child. Once your child is competent in front crawl, breaststroke and backstroke (Swim Skills 4) he/she may also join the junior  water polo section. When your child first joins junior water polo section, he/she will be assessed by the Junior Water Polo Head Coach and  will then be placed into a group with children of the same standard. The groups start from the complete beginner  through to the players in the 16s team.  Your child will be continuously assessed by and his/her teacher and the Junior Water Polo Head Coach and will be  moved up to the next group only when they are satisfied of the child's ability.  If at any time you are not happy with your child's progress, please feel free to approach either the Liaison Officer (for  swimming) or the Junior Water Polo Head Coach (for water polo) who are available to answer any questions you have  regarding your child/children.  At this point we would ask you as a parent, not to talk or try to coach your child whilst he/she is under tuition; this only  confuses the child and makes the teachers' job more difficult.   If at any time your child has to leave before the end of  the lesson, will you please inform the teacher. In the year of your child's 9th birthday he/she will be eligible to be selected for the club swimming team and will also be  able to swim as an individual and can enter many competitions.  These competitions are most important to the "more  serious competitive" swimmer and need to be explained at length.  If you require any further information on this or swim  team matters the Chief Coach or the Liaison Officer will gladly explain.   In the year of your child's 10th birthday he/she will be eligible to be selected for the water polo teams.  The upper age  limit on the junior water polo section is 16 years after this the boys move into the senior water polo section.  And the  girls to the ladies water polo section. As well as teaching swimming and water polo, the club also boasts a very active social life, organising events for family,  children only and adults only.  All these events are advertised in the monthly Club Newsletter, which is e-mailed to club members to club members and  is available on this website.  As well as informing you of social functions the newsletter keeps you up to date with  swimming and water polo achievements and honours, and most important of all sessions cancelled because of galas,  water polo matches and bank holidays.  SO PLEASE READ YOUR NEWSLETTER.  The club also runs a "Swim Shop" where you can purchase goggles, swim caps, towels, floats, t-shirts, club swimwear  etc, at very competitive prices. The shop is available at most swim training sessions.