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 in 2003 gained the ASA Swim 21 accreditation silver awards for teaching and skill development. 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. 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 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.  In 1998 the U18s team won the ASA National Junior Men’s Club 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 non-swimmer, 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 (Midddler Widths Session 2) 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 and water polo teams 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. 

The age limit on the junior water polo section is 16 years after this the boys move into the senior water polo section.  Unfortunately due to limitations on both water time and resources the club does not currently have a 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 Club Newsletter, which is free from the desk every month 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.