Clubs in Depth - Lane Cove SC

17 June 2021
Lane Cove swimmers on the blocks

Today we're diving into - Lave Cove SC

Lane Cove Swimming Club is based at Lane Cove Aquatic Centre, in the Metro North East Area of Sydney. The club was established in 1962 and is currently based at the original site of its inception. In October 2020, Lane Cove Aquatic Centre was fitted with a new outdoor 50m pool and 1000-seater grandstand. Even with their 60th anniversary approaching in 2022, it is easy to say that Lane Cove members have maintained their focus on community and family, utilising their love of swimming to rally locals to participate in inter and intra-club events.

To find out a bit more about the club, we spoke to Head Coach, Michael Jacobs and Club President, Joshua Baker.

Lane Cove SC overhead team shot

Lane Cove in Depth

Lane Cove SC is a 250 member-strong club, with family positioned as the strength and core of their values. Many swimmers in Lane Cove’s performance squads also have parents training in the Swim Fit squad, and some younger swimmers regularly train alongside their parents.

Lane Cove currently has five levels of squads, all of which are overseen by Michael Jacobs and his staunch team of coaches. These include the

Nostalgia: Lane Cove's new pool compared to the original pool

Junior Squad, which is the first squad level out of Learn to Swim; Bronze, Silver and Gold squad, all of which are aimed at reaching both state and national-level competitions; and the Swim Fit squad, which is targeted towards teenagers and Masters-level swimmers.

Lane Cove regularly host club races on a Saturday morning, which are all seeded based on ability rather than age. This means that sometimes keen 10-year-old swimmers get the chance to race against the more seasoned 70-year-olds who are still participating in club events. You’ll find that there are also plenty of volunteers available to help run club races, ranging from overseeing Technical Official duties (timekeeping, starting, refereeing), and consistently running the all-important weekly BBQ!

Run since the mid-60s, Lane Cove SC are proud hosts of the annual Roma Edmunds Mile Swim. Named after Roma Edmunds, a mother of two club swimmers, who suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage on pool deck, Lane Cove started the Mile Swim in honour of her memory. Even today, you’ll be able to find a few octogenarian members completing the swim for at least their 40th time.

Looking ahead for Lane Cove SC

Lane Cove Swimming Club has been successfully building their membership base, especially after a hard year last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Head Coach Michael Jacobs is passionate about the current squad program’s potential for success, especially given that the squads are made up of so many young swimmers. The goal moving forward for the club in terms of performance is to continue building a pathway for success for the senior swimmers through targeting events such as Senior State Age and Nationals events, as well as continuing to secure positive outcomes for junior swimmers.

Come and Try Lane Cove SC

Moving towards their 60th anniversary celebrations, the club is looking at hosting more ‘come and try’ events to encourage new members to join the club, as well as re-introduce their annual Spring Qualifying Meet, which has not been held during the pandemic.

Find out more about Lane Cove SC and learn how you can become a member here.

Find and Contact Lane Cove SC

Club pool: Lane Cove Aquatic Centre, 2 Little St, Lane Cove NSW

Club website: https://lanecove.swimming.org.au/

Follow Lane Cove SC on Facebook and Instagram

Want to be featured in the next Clubs in Depth?

  • Get in touch with us
  • Contact Olivia Kapocius (admin@nsw.swimming.org.au) to organise an interview.

  • Purpose of Clubs in Depth initiative
  • The purpose of Clubs in Depth is to promote NSW-based clubs to both the Swimming NSW and broader community in order to increase engagement and participation. The article is distributed via our website, social media channels, the Hot Off the Blocks Newsletter and Swimmer Magazine.

    Swimming NSW will also provide featured clubs with a modified copy of their article so it can be distributed to local media outlets as a new member and community engagement tool.

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