Membership at the Moree Amateur Swimming Club has roughly doubled this year since the season began in October. 

Treasurer and committee member Tammy Elbourne said more than 54 new members had signed up this year, taking the total to more than 104. And Ms Elbourne conceded the scorching spring may have something to do with the trend.  

“That’s just it,” she chuckled. “What better sport for the kids to enjoy? One, it’s a skill for life, two it’s about development and three, living out here in this weather, when you need to cool off, I think there’s no better thing to do than to get into the pool and have a swim.” 

Ages range from three-year-olds swimming with noodles to 17-year-olds looking to compete in carnivals, but Elbourne joked the club was not just about developing “mean, fast swimmers”. 

“We welcome anyone with any level of skills and development,” she said. “We’ve seen kids who wouldn’t get in the pool, wouldn’t jump of the blocks, who wouldn’t swim without their mum or dad as a support swimmer or without the aid of a device like a noodle. They went from that to complete, unaided swimming with something resembling a stroke, even butterfly, in just a six-week period.” 

Elbourne said the club’s point system meant that swimmers were rewarded for beating their own times, not their clubmates. 

But the club also has a growing number of members competing at meets from Sydney to Toowoomba. 

“The added advantage of being part of the Moree Amateur Swimming Club is that you also become part of Swimming NSW and Swimming Australia, which means that children can then access carnivals all throughout the country,” Elbourne said.

“Our team of representative competitors is growing — we had a team of about 12 a couple of weekends ago and this weekend we’ve got over 12 going to Tamworth.”

Though she’s not part of the amateur club, most of its members who want to pursue swimming seriously go on to train with the likes of former Olympian Angela (Mullens) Walker.

“We’re very, very fortunate in a regional, country town like Moree to have wonderful access to those kind of coaches,” Elbourne said.

The season runs through to the end of term one in April next year and the club is encouraging people who still want to join to do so as soon as possible. 

Get in touch via their Facebook page, email moreeamateurswimclub@gmail.com or drop into the pool when the club meets every Thursday evening from 6pm to 7.30pm. 

“It’s a very encouraging atmosphere for people to be in and have a great time,” she said.