|
|
|
|
In August of 1886, The Lorne Club, a flourishing Edinburgh swimming club of the day, chartered a steamer and sailed up from Trinity with 150 members to put on a demonstration of competitive swimming, diving and life-saving, held in the harbour at the West Breakwater. This was so well received, despite the fact that Burntisland lost the 5-aside football 4-0, that a local club was formed and within a week B.A.S.C. held their first competition at the West Breakwater for the Captaincy of the Club. The full title of the Club was, as it still remains to day :- BURNTISLAND AMATEUR SWIMMING CLUB AND HUMANE SOCIETY, the ‘Humane Society’ reflecting the great interest in life-saving. The latter part of the 19th century was a time of much increased awareness in public health and hygiene, with a large number of public baths being constructed, many with accompanying swimming pools. Accordingly, many new swimming clubs evolved and within a year of its founding the club had sent delegates to a convocation held in Glasgow to discuss the formation of a national governing body for the sport and subsequently were present at the inaugural meeting of the S.A.S.A. held in Edinburgh in January 1888. However, there being no pool in Burntisland the club continued for many years as a sea swimming club. Unfortunately, in 1925 interest fell to a low level and the club ceased to operate, all Club trophies being held in trust by the Burgh Council and the remaining funds lodged with the local bank. Since this was around the time of the General Strike (1926) and the start of the Great Depression ( Black Tuesday October 29 1929) it’s probably not surprising! This situation didn’t last long and in 1931 a group of young men, known as “The Chain Gang” revived the Club and launched a determined campaign to convince the Burgh Council of the viability of a swimming pool in Burntisland. They held many well-attended Galas and organised a Plebiscite within the town to canvass the support of the local community. In due course, a start was made on the construction, and the new outdoor pool (Old Pool?) was finally opened on 6th June 1936 when an inaugural Gala was held. A highlight of the Club’s revival occurred when R. McLean won the Scottish Junior Breaststroke 100yds. Championship in Nov.1938 at Dundee. The Club continued to train and compete here for many years until the ultimate demise of the pool in the late 1970s, due to lack of both financial resources and the political will to fund essential repairs. This was a traumatic period in the Club’s history and looking back could so easily have proved disastrous! However the committee of the day were not so readily put off and with people such as Tom Courts , Bill Davidson et al., they fought long and hard to garner water-time from a number of outlying pools to ensure the survival of the club. They engaged in an enormous logistics programme to transport the whole club to the relevant venues and at one period had to hire two double-decker buses from Alexander’s on the Tuesday club night at Kirkcaldy. Having survived this, the Club went from strength to strength and in 1982 made the bold decision to engage the services of a professional coach to improve the competitive side of the club. The 1980s saw many protests and initiatives developed within the community regarding the pool or rather lack of one but we simply remained year by year on the Kirkcaldy District 10 year plan at year 10 until F.R.C. took a hand, when in 1993 a Public Meeting was called to discuss developments. Those who attended that night, are not likely to forget the outcome! The meeting had originally been scheduled to take place in the Parish Church Upper Hall but 20 minutes before the intended start the hall was full and hundreds of townsfolk were waiting outside. The meeting was hastily relocated to the Main Hall (standing room only) and the outcome was the endorsement by the community and all other interested parties of the concept of a Swimming and Leisure complex, later to be called the Beacon Centre. Finally, in Feb. 1997 B.A.S.C. attended the first training session in a pool in Burntisland for nearly two decades. We were back home again at last! One of the positive elements to come out of all the problems caused by the closure of the old pool was that the Club was inevitably changed. Prior to this point, the Club had been essentially seasonal, and mainly a Teaching Club with a competitive element and a strongly social outlook. Afterwards the Club was able to train throughout the year and, allied to the decision in 1982 to employ a professional coach, we were more in the nature of a competitive club still with a strong teaching element but hopefully retaining much of the social atmosphere which has been so important in the past. This more or less describes the current Club profile. In 1982 Brian McGuiness, our first professional coach, who is a Past President of the British Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association (BSCTA), devised a coaching development plan for the Club which although modified and improved by his successors, still provides the basis for the teaching and coaching structure of the swimming club. |