Hove in the Past: Shiverers Swimming Club, Hove.

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
On the right is the Medina Baths, Hove, the original home of the Shiverers Swimming Club.

Beginnings

The club was founded in October 1920, and its first name was the Hove Winter Shiverers Swimming Club because it was set up to promote swimming during the winter months at the Medina Baths, Hove. However, this title was short-lived because the club proved to be so popular that it soon became a round-the-year club.

It then became the Shiverers Swimming Club, being recognised as such by the ASA in 1921. It is remarkable to record that the club is still active to this day, although members come from all over Sussex, and not simply from Hove and Brighton. Then as now, the club aims to train youngsters.

Hove Swimming Club

The Shiverers was not Hove’s first ever swimming club, the Hove Swimming Club was founded on the 29 May 1894 while the Medina Baths were being built.

On 13 September 1894 Medina Baths were opened. The large swimming bath for men measured 93 feet 6 inches by 30 feet; It was floored with Victoria stone and lined with Doulton tiles. The smaller swimming bath for ladies measured 65 feet by 33 feet. The temperature was maintained at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The baths were filled with sea-water, which was thought to have beneficial properties. The sea-water passed through an enormous charcoal filtering process and was changed daily.

In 1896 the club’s water polo team were junior champions of Sussex.

The Brighton Argus reported on the 4 January 1900 that, O. Dalgairn, R.G. Hales, Thomas Nailard jun., A. Scott snr. and W.B. Spilkins, five members of the Hove Swimming Club had volunteered to fight in the Boer War. The club gave the men an enthusiastic send-off to South Africa in the shape of a complimentry dinner at the Sussex Hotel in St Catherine's Terrace.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Graphic 2 September 1915
Miss Doris Taylor with her trainer Mr W Kellingley,
a famous trainer of cross-channel swimmers.

In 1915 Hove Swimming Club’s Doris Taylor, who was 15 years old at the time, swam between Brighton’s Palace Pier and the West Pier in a record time of 15 minutes 32 seconds beating the previous year's record by one minute.

It would seem that the Hove Swimming Club went out of existence during the First World War after 1915.

The Shiverers Swimming Club (founded in 1920)

A glance at the following table shows the rapid growth in numbers:

1922 – 400 members

1926 – 650 members

1927 – 700 members

1930s – 853 members

1933 – 1,016 members

Swimming Pools

The club continued to use the Medina Baths, but in 1927 the North Road Baths in Brighton were also used for fresh-water training.

There was a short-lived use of the swimming baths at S.S. Brighton in West Street, Brighton in 1934 / 1935.

S.S. Brighton was officially opened by Earl Howe and Miss Margaret Hardy, the Mayoress of Brighton on the 29^th June 1934. The Shiverers Swimming Club marched into the stadium behind the Mile Oak School’s brass band. A news film made at the time stated that “S.S. Brighton is the finest swimming stadium in the World,” it was also claimed that S.S. Brighton was the largest covered sea water pool in the World. The Shiverers put on a swimming display to the large audience at this opening event while the Mile Oak School's Brass Band played the background music.

This was a grand Art Deco establishment, but unfortunately the enterprise did not make the required amount of profit, and so in September 1935 the pool was closed, and converted into an ice-rink.

The Medina Baths were still in use of course. Club members were excited about the construction of new swimming baths at Hove in 1938 to be called Hove Marina. Special events were planned to mark the grand opening including a visit of the Michigan University Swimming Team together with its top coach Matt Mann.

Unhappily, war was declared on 3 September 1939. The Admiralty had kept a keen eye on the building because it was right next door to the RNVR headquarters on a site already owned by the Admiralty. Consequently, the new swimming baths were swiftly requisitioned to aid the war effort and became the ‘stone frigate’ HMS King Alfred. An amazing 22,500 RNVR officers received their training here and in other buildings. The officers had a wavy stripe on their sleeves, and consequently were popularly known as the Wavy Navy. You can see examples in the classic film The Cruel Sea where two officers arrive on board ‘fresh from the King Alfred’.

The Medina Baths were still in use during the war, but it was a very difficult time because the sea-front was a restricted zone with gun emplacements on the promenade, and barbed wire and devices on the shore. You needed a special pass to get through. An alert sentry on duty when it was dark at the King Alfred once nearly took a pot-shot at a visiting top-brass because he didn’t say the correct password.

St Andrew’s Lych-gate

Carl Wootton was one of the founder members of the Shiverers and the prime mover in the scheme to erect a lych-gate at the entrance to St Andrew’s Old Church, Hove, as a memorial to Old Shiverers killed in the Second World War. On 24 September 1953 Brigadier de Vere Welchman, president of the ASA unveiled the lych-gate.

Despite its ancient appearance, the lych-gate is a modern structure. It was built as a memorial to the 48 members of the Shiverers Club who died in the Second World War 1939-1949.

The lychgate's Roll of Honour of the 48 members of the Shiverers Club
who died in the Second World War 1939-1949.

Their names are recorded on a copper plate inside the structure. Earle Yeates designed the lych-gate and the wood and Horsham slate were some 400 years old. In September 1953 the Bishop of Lewes, Right Revd G.H Warde, dedicated the gate, which cost around £2,000.

At the time Revd Robert Milner Gibson was vicar of St Andrew’s and in his address he said the following, ‘The gate is a joy of design, material and craftsmanship, and will form a beautiful and dignified entrance to a spot hallowed by a thousand years of worship.’

The King Alfred

After the war, it seemed pointless to call the de-requisitioned swimming baths the Hove Marina when everybody had known the building as the King Alfred for the duration. The Admiralty gave permission for the name to continue in use.

On 3 August 1946 the King Alfred opened with a grand flourish by Admiral Sir G. Layton. There used to be a plaque commemorating this event but this has since disappeared, and despite questions being asked, nobody seems bothered about what happened to it.

In the souvenir brochure for the opening Sussex County ASA President and also President of Shiverers SC, Carl Wootton stated:

“The opening of the “King Alfred” presents a great opportunity, not only to the citizens of Hove, but to the whole County of Sussex as well as swimmers all over England. ‘The King Alfred’ is a superb example of swimming bath construction. By developing in it all that is best in method and organisation, we must see to it that ‘The King Alfred’ shall become a centre of fine English swimming and, as such, a pattern and example to the whole Country.”

The Major Bath was 110-ft in length and 42-ft in width; the depth of water at the east end was 3-ft 6-in, and there was a diving pool at the west end with a water depth of 10-ft. The Minor Pool was 75-ft in length and 30-ft wide. Water Polo took place at the King Alfred; in 1948 the Australian Olympic Water Polo Team visited Hove, while in 1952 it was the turn of the Belgian Olympic Water Polo Team. Also in 1952 the ASA National Championships were held at Hove.

During the Fifties the best year was 1956 when boy Shiverers won the Southern Counties Championship for the sixth successive year; and the Shiverers who attended Hove Manor School won the ASA Schoolboys Team Championship for the fourth successive year, while the junior water polo team won the national championship.

In 1965 the training of boys and girls was integrated, and the girls produced their best results for several years. In the late 1960s the water polo team won the Sussex Senior title for the twenty-second consecutive year.

It is sad to record that water polo at Hove became a sport of the past. This was because of the creation of a new leisure pool that opened in 1980 where water polo was banned. In July 1978 the Shiverers staged a protest march in the hope that the new pool at the King Alfred would be 33 and one-third metres. But Hove Council decided by a vote of twenty-two to six to stick with its original plan to provide a 25-metre competition pool.

In March 1992 the Shiverers became the first Sussex club to win the London League Division One.

In September 1996 angry parents protested to the Club’s committee about price increases, and there were 80 names on the petition. Under the old system parents paid an annual fee of £14 per child, plus £1 for every session. But the new charges would be £120 a year for a one-star swimmer, and £240 a year for a five-star swimmer. It was feared some children would have to leave because of the costs.

In November 1997 there was further bad news when a large increase in costs was predicted because of extra insurance. Instead of paying £300 to the Amateur Swimming Association, the Club might have to fork out £1,500.

In December 1999 the Shiverers were upset about problems with the King Alfred pool. The premises were closed for repairs, but when the pool was re-filled, the tiles began to buckle. This was due to poor maintenance, and it was the first time the pool had been drained since 1985. The pool remained closed until 2000. At that time the Club had 300 members.

Personalties and Swimmers

Stephen Akers – He swam at international level as well as in the Olympics after coaching from Ian Newell, coach at the Club. In 1990 Akers competed in the Commonwealth Games at Auckland, New Zealand, and in 1992 at the Summer Olympics.

Simon Burtenshaw – He attended Cardinal Newman School, and was a Shiverer when in 1994 he smashed an eight-year old national record. In 1986 he broke the free-style record for 13 / 14 year-old boys by 1.39 seconds. He was also the holder of the 2000m free and backstroke age-group titles. In 1997 Burtenshaw won several national events, collecting three gold medals, three silver and bronze, and the British junior record. By February 1999 it was stated that Burtenshaw was aiming for a place in the British team at the Sydney Olympics. During an inter-club meeting he was runner-up to Olympic swimmer Eric La Fleur by just .15 of a second in the 50m freestyle, and .28 of a second over 100m. In April 1999 17-year old Burtenshaw was captain of the British team taking part in the Six Nations Junior International at Upsala, Sweden. He made up a deficit of 2½ seconds in the 4x100m medley to win by just one point. He gained two personal bests besides some more medals.

James Collins - In August 1992 at the Crystal Palace when he was aged fourteen, he won the boys’ under-fifteen breaststroke in the national junior age group championships.

Pat Denman – It was in April 1994 that Denman won one silver medal at the Crystal Palace during the Southern Counties long course championships.

David Dunne – He joined the Shiverers at the age of eight and remained a member until two years before he took part in the Olympic Games. In 1976 he was one of the relay team to win a bronze medal in the Summer Olympics at Montreal, Canada; he added two more bronze medals in 1978 in the Commonwealth Games at Edmonton, Canada.

Barbara Fentiman – She won two gold medals and four silver medals in April 1994 at the same championships as Denman.

Felicity Hague – She won one gold medal, two silver medals, and one bronze medal in April 1994 at the same championships as Denman.

Margaret Knight – She won three silver medals in April 1994 at the same championships as Denman.

Alan Mason – He won a bronze medal in April 1994 at the same championships as Denman.

Ian Newell – He joined the Club as a professional coach, and was still coaching in 1995. He coached Karen Pickering and Stephen Akers who both went on to swim at international level, and participate in the Olympics.

Mrs Deedee Pickering – She was the mother of Karen Pickering, and acted as joint secretary to the Shiverers for many years.

Karen Pickering MBE OBE – She was born on 19 December 1971 at Brighton, but as a child she lived in Elm Drive, Hove. She learned to swim at the age of four, but on one occasion she nearly sank to the bottom of the pool when the relief instructor prematurely removed her armbands. She was a member of the Shiverers between the ages of seven and fifteen. She was educated at Brighton & Hove High School, and frequently turned up for lessons with damp hair after an early morning training session in the swimming pool at Lancing College. At the age of fourteen she was included in the national swimming team.

In the Commonwealth Games of 1990 she won silver and bronze medals in the swimming relay events. In February 1990 she was guest of honour (together with sportsman Stephen Baddeley who had won a gold medal in the badminton team event) at a special reception held in the Mayor’s Parlour at Hove Town Hall hosted by Margaret Adams, Mayor of Hove.

In April 1991 Karen Pickering tried out the newly refurbished water-slides at the King Alfred after the Mayor of Hove had officially opened them. In December 1991, fresh from her five wins at the National Winter Championships, she visited Blatchington Mill School to open a new suite and to hand over a 17-seater bus.

In June 1992 Pickering was involved in an unfortunate accident that left her with a bruised lower back. What happened was that a BBC cameraman was filming her at the British Olympic swimming squad’s training camp at Narbonne, France, and as she was performing a tumble turn, her legs came out of the water, clipped the camera, and the cameraman fell into the water on top of her. However, Pickering only lost one training session while the cameraman’s equipment worth £20,000 was lost, plus all of his film.

Pickering became the first British woman to win a world swimming title, bringing home a gold medal in 1992, and in 1993 at the European Championships she won two medals – one for the 200m freestyle, and the 2x200m freestyle relay. On 22 December 1994 Pickering went to Buckingham Palace to receive her OBE. By this time she was swimming for Ipswich Swimming Club.

In April 1996 it was stated that her height was 5-ft 9½-in, her weight was 9 stone 5lb, and her percentage of body fat was 8.2. She trained for six days a week; she was in the pool by 5.30 a.m. for an hour and a half, followed by an hour at the gym. She then enjoyed a three-hour nap before further training in the afternoon with another one and a half hours in the pool, followed by sit-ups, jumps, and other exercise. It was not surprising that with all the exercise she found it difficult to keep up her body weight.

At the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1994 Pickering wore a stream-lined Linford-Christie-style bodysuit. Unfortunately she was struck down by a bug, and did not reach the final.

In September 1996 she cut the ribbon for work to start on the new £1million hospital at Hove. She remembered that as a child living in Elm Drive she used to play on that piece of land when it was allotments. She signed a copy of David Hockney’s painting A Bigger Splash that was to hang in the foyer.

By June 1998 Pickering was aged 26, and she was the reigning Commonwealth 100m champion and record holder, and the English number one for 200m freestyle. She had a long career, being a member of the British swimming squad from 1986 to 2005. Her last Olympic Games was in 2000, and in July 2002 she clocked-up her 11^th Commonwealth Games medal when she won the gold medal in the 200m. Afterwards, she said, ‘I wanted to win this medal so much. I came third in 1994, second in 1988, so tonight it was time for gold. I have come through some tough times when I thought about retiring but people believed in me when others told me I was too old.’ Her final tally was an astonishing 34 medals including eight gold medals.

David West – He became the first Shiverer to become a full international swimmer.

Graham Willis – won two bronze medals in April 1994 at the same championships as Denman.

Carl Wootton – He was one of the founder members, and had been president since 1923. In October 1946 he accompanied a group of Shiverers to the Croydon Youth Championship Gala and the Central Baths where his charges demonstrated the art and grace of swimming. Wootton enjoyed such a long connection with the Club that he taught the sons and grandsons of the original bunch of small boys.

Wootton was the prime mover in the scheme to erect a lych-gate at the entrance to St Andrew’s Old Church, Hove, as a memorial to Old Shiverers killed in the Second World War. On 24 September 1953 Brigadier de Vere Welchman, president of the ASA unveiled the lych-gate. Carl Wootton died on 26 August 1961.

Source

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

20 April 2023

Shiverers Swimming Club, Hove.