Our History

In the summer of 1986, a competition was held at Blairgowrie Recreation Centre for local kids to come up with a name for a new swimming club.  Blairgowrie Dolphins was established, and on Sunday 24^th August 1986 the first Blairgowrie Dolphins training session took place. 

We are a competitive club and our swimmers compete at various levels.  We’ve had swimmers compete in inter-club friendlies, Midlands District Galas (including Leagues), Tayside Schools Championships, Perth & Kinross Disability Swimming Championships and we’ve even had swimmers attend National events like the Scottish Schools Championships, Scottish Disability Swimming Championships, Scottish Summer Meet and the Scottish National Age Groups (SNAGS).

With Blairgowrie Dolphins ASC, you will have a range of amazing opportunities to try out, such as open water swimming and long course training at the University of Stirling’s 50m pool.  We’ve developed strong links with neighbouring clubs, Dundee City Aquatics (DCA) and Perth City Swim Club (PCSC) where we’ve been invited to attend Development Sessions run by coaches David Haig (DCA) and Ann Dickson (PCSC).  In previous years, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting Olympic athletes like Hannah Miley and Stephen Milne at organised events throughout the district.

We are ‘non-profit’, relying entirely on volunteers giving their valuable time to run and develop all aspects of the club.  The volunteer roles include fully qualified Coaches, Team Managers, Technical Officials and the club’s Committee.  Our main financial overheads are associated with the training facilities.  No-one running the club including Coaches, receive an income.

Throughout the years, our club has grown immeasurably through the invaluable support of our club’s volunteers.  2019 was a particularly momentous occasion where we won the Midlands District Division 1 League.  We were subsequently promoted to the Premier Division League for the 2020 season – a very proud moment for all who made this happen!

We are affiliated to SASA Midlands District / Scottish Swimming and currently hold AquaMark 1 status.  All Coaches and Members in regulated roles are required to have a PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Groups) and CWPS training (Child Wellbeing & Protection in Sport).  Our Coaches are qualified to a minimum of Coaching Level 2 (or equivalent teaching qualification).  Training is an ongoing process and renewable periodically.

We don’t have an age restriction for joining the club, instead swimming ability is key.  Most swimmers reach the end of their swimming lessons programme (Scottish Swimming Award Scheme Level 4), and may have joined Live Active’s ‘Club Ready’ programme which is the preferred pathway to joining our club. Periodically we hold New Starts Trials, advertised locally and on the club’s Facebook page. 

From January 2025, our training will take place in a 6 lane, 25m swimming pool within Blairgowrie’s new Passivhaus Recreation Centre. This will be a premium venue for all clubs within Midlands District and will allow us to host our own competitive galas, as the new facility will be of competition standard.