Crescent Beach Swimming Club
Our History

Founded in 1918 as the Crescent Beach Regatta Association, the Crescent Beach Swimming Club is the oldest summer swim club in British Columbia. Our first swim gala had just 10 competitors, and our “pool” was a wooden dock floating off Blackie Spit, known simply as The Tank. By 1921 we had become the Crescent Amateur Swimming Club, and in 1953 we took on the name we carry today, the Crescent Beach Swimming Club.

More than a century later, we’ve grown into a multi-sport summer program for hundreds of families. Over eight weeks each July and August, kids take part in swimming, tennis, sailing, water polo, artistic swimming, lifesaving, triathlon, volleyball, pickleball and diving. We’ve produced Olympic medalists along the way, but our focus has always been on fun, skills and sportsmanship in a safe, inclusive beach setting.

We are entirely volunteer run, with youth coaches as the only paid staff which keeps membership affordable. The result is a true multigenerational community. Grandparents, parents and kids gather for foot races, sandcastle competitions, Bullhead Derbies, BINGO, tennis tournaments, family picnics and swim meets. Many families have been part of the club for generations, and new families are welcomed in every summer. And the Tank is still here. Every summer, kids earn their place as “Tankers” by swimming 25 yards in the open ocean while the whole beach cheers them on. It’s one of our most cherished traditions.