At a public meeting held on 2nd November 1973, it was agreed to form the Ripley Swimming Club, but with all the necessary preparations to be made and with the proximity of Christmas, swimming did not commence until the first Tuesday in January.

Soon after the Club got under way there was found to be enough interest to start a Life Saving section, and eventually the Council allowed them to have their own training sessions on Friday evenings.

The object of the Club was, and still is, to teach as many people as possible to find pleasure in, and to be safe in water. There was a natural progression towards competitive swimming, and we swam against other Clubs, but it was all at a low level.

It was soon after we engaged a professional Swimming Coach that we started to improve in speed swimming, and we have never looked back, now regularly having a significant number of our members swimming for the County, and several who have achieved Midland times.

In 1985 we changed the Club’s name to the Ripley Amateur Swimming Club And Life Savers.

Meanwhile the Life Saving Section quickly found a wealth of talent and it was not long before we had our first National Life Saving Champion. We have continued to be represented at those Championships ever since, and we have had many champions, both in individual sections and overall.

RASCALS has always had a reputation for being a “family Club”. The amount of parental involvement in managing, poolside work and administration is renowned in swimming circles. We hope that we will soon be able to add your name to that list.


Frank Mansey
President and Founder Member