Founded 1832 (1832) Location Durham, County Durham Nickname DUSC | University Durham University Head coach Chris Dove | |
Home pool Freeman's Quay
Durham School | ||
Durham University Swimming Club (or DUSC) is the swimming club of the University of Durham. The club is made up of a wide selection of swimmers throughout the university from the various colleges, though is mainly aimed towards swimmers competing for the University. They compete every year in the British Universities and Colleges Sport Championships (or BUCS) in both the Short Course and Long Course championships, both held at the international swimming pool Ponds Forge, Sheffield in November and February respectively. The club enjoys a reasonable degree of success at these events, where they often have a significant number of finalists, who compete directly against members of the British Swimming team, such as Liam Tancock (current world record holder), as well as double Olympic Gold Medallist Rebecca Adlington.
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The club also competes in the BUCS team championships, where the 1st team compete in the Northern Division 1 and the 2nd team in Northern Division 2, having both winning promotion from Northern Division 2 and 3 respectively in the 2012/13 season.
Club information
DUSC is associated with Team Durham, and receives funding as well as help in other areas from this organisation. DUSC does not have access to a university owned pool, and instead train predominantly at the Durham County Council owned Freeman's Quay, which opened in 2008, as well as weekly sessions at Durham School. They also have access to gym facilities at the Graham Sports Centre at Maiden Castle. DUSC have recently been able to finance the services of part-time coaches, as of the 2014-2015 season, Durham student (2012-2015) Chris Dove (also a coach at local club Derwentside ASC) coaches the university squad several mornings each week. The club's gym sessions are also monitored by employees of Team Durham.
The BUCS championships at Sheffield twice a year are the most significant event of the club's competitive calendar.
The Inter-Collegiate swimming competition, hosted at Durham School on two separate nights (one for Hill colleges, the other for Durham colleges on the Bailey), is also a regular annual event with the winners receiving the Inter-College Cup.
History
The club has a history tracing its origins back to the formation of the university in 1832. The club has also contained international swimmers who have competed in major international multi-sport games. Caroline Saxby competed for England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where she reached the final in the Women's 800m & 400m Freestyle, coming 6th and 7th respectively. Adam Jackson also competed for the Isle of Man in the 50m & 100m Breaststroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. The club also contained international multi-eventers, including former U23 European Duathlon Silver Medalist Matt Gunby, a member of the British Triathlon team, and Nick Zissler, who has represented Great Britain in Modern Pentathlon. The club also had two British Senior Age Group Swimming Champions, James Benson (three-times British Champion in the 50m,100m & 200m Butterfly), and Alex Smith (200m Backstroke).
Inter-College Championships
Colleges compete annually for the Inter-College Championships, with the winning College receiving the Inter-College Cup.
The inter-college championships has not been continued in recent years.