Anniversary celebrations for Tonbridge Swimming Club

Submitted for publication by Mary and Pete Ebbage

The Tonbridge Swimming Club is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year and recently participated in two essential fundraising events over consecutive weekends. The pandemic has put financial pressure on the club due to increased pool rental costs and associated overheads.

On Sunday, September 5, hunters from the Tonbridge Swim Club set out into the waters of the River Medway to participate in the annual dragon boat races. A boat comprising the Tonbridge Swimming Club and the Chasing Connors Cure rowers battled through the heats in the races to raise funds for both organizations. The 200 meters down the Medway in the Town Lock enclosure to the “Big Bridge” in Tonbridge featured 19 teams competing against each other while raising money for good causes.

The TSC Chasers laughed a lot and improved turn based but unfortunately did not advance to the final as they were up against more experienced teams. But vital funds were raised for both groups and everyone had a lot of laughs. TSC was delighted to share the experience with representatives from Chasing Connors Cure, as the local charity is the swim club’s chosen charity for 2021.

The club also hosted their annual party in the park on Sunday September 12, and this year’s event was bigger and better than ever. About 200 past and present members, along with their families and friends were invited to the celebration.

The fun party-type event featured plenty of booths for the whole family including beating the buzzer, marble spoon race, tin can aisle, bottle raffle, chocolate and candy raffle, booth of cakes, beat the goalie and a tug of war. One of the more popular booths was “Sponge the Coaches” where swimmers had the chance to throw soaked sponges at some of the coaches that were in stock.

The club had a fantastic day celebrating with members past and present in perfect weather which made the celebratory barbecue a highlight. Swimmers, families and friends enjoyed the great outdoors and besides the organized activities swimmers had a fantastic time challenging each other in cricket and football matches and tug of war though. important.

The club would like to thank all of the local businesses who supported this special day and look forward to sharing this support through their social media platforms in the weeks and months to come.

To visit the club website click here.

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