Pre-breakfast swims during the 1939-1945 war years at the long-demolished Throwley Road Baths generated the interest in forming a club in Sutton, and Sutton and Cheam Borough Swimming Club came into being on 3rd September 1945 with the 'elders' Committee consisting of:

The newly formed club entered its first gala in September 1945 represented by 5 swimmers and it is recorded that 'all 5 gave a creditable performance'.

In December 1945, under the new title of Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club, the club affiliated to the Southern Counties ASA (SCASA) and in February 1946, to the Surrey County Water Polo and Swimming Association (SCWPSA),. Sutton Council then granted the club exclusive use of pool time at the Malden Road Baths (now Cheam Leisure Centre) for the princely sum of 7/6d (371/2 p) per hour.

With enthusiastic young swimmers and a hard working Committee, the new club developed and prospered. Its first important success came in 1947 when Pat Kendall became National Sprint Champion. In the following year, he became the first of a long line of Olympians when selected for the Great Britain team for the London Olympics in 1948. In the same year, the club entered four water polo leagues. In 1949, Gerry Worsell was selected for the Great Britain team for the first time and while playing for Liverpool University v Loughborough in a UAY final was penalised by the referee for "standing" in the deep (10ft 6ins) end of the pool! Gerry, along with Sutton and Cheam teammate Terry Miller, went on to be selected for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. It is noteworthy that the "Daily Mirror" dubbed Gerry at the time "Mr Beefcake" when he appeared as a male centrefold in the newspaper.

The 1950s continued to witness the rise of the Sutton and Cheam Water Polo team. A capacity, partisan crowd attended Friday and Saturday night matches at the Malden Road pool with the baths resembling Wembley Stadium rather than a suburban swimming pool. This success was highlighted in 1955 when the BBC televised an England v Scotland International Gala and water polo match, from Malden Road pool for their 'Saturday Night Out' programme. Over 1000 spectators packed the Malden Road gallery to capacity and it was estimated the show was broadcast to 11,000,000 viewers.

In the same year, Sutton and Cheam played host to the Australian National side training for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and trounced them 9-6 at the Malden Road pool. In the following year, the Australians returned the compliment when Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympics and some of the players met up again when Sutton and Cheam players Cliff Spooner and Gerry Worsell were selected for the British Team.

It was also in the late 1950s that the name Thurley first became associated with the club with Charlie Thurley playing for the club's highly successful junior water polo team with other stalwarts like John Salter, who still plays with Sutton and Cheam's masters' side.

Surrey Junior Water Polo Team 1958

Winners: ASA & SCASA County Junior Championships

G.A.Worsell (coach) S&C , R.Fearn (S&C) , E.E Alexander, J.Salter (S&C) , E,G.Breed
A.J.Burford (Wimbledon) M.Creamore (S&C), J.Lake (S&C), C.Thurley (S&C), P.Green (S&C)

In 1961, 'Dinkie' Thurley (known affectionately to everyone as 'Mrs T') took over the swimming coaching at Sutton and Cheam and remained so until her death in February 2003. Under her direction, the club flourished and success was immediate as she coached her son John to the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and to Mexico City in 1968. John also won bronze for the butterfly at the Commonwealth Games in 1966 and was the first sub 2 mins GB swimmer in the 200 metres butterfly.

In 1962, the National Water Polo League (NWPL) was actually formed at a meeting held in the home of our former president C.T.Thurley. Since its formation, the club has won the Championship 6 times and has only recently dropped out of the first division.

Another of 'Mrs T's' boys, John Mills (now chief coach at Wandsworth), represented Great Britain at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and took a Commonwealth Games silver in the 100m butterfly. Setting the seal on the club's achievements, in 1977 and 1978, John Mills captained the Great Britain Swimming Team and Philip Howden, the Great Britain Water Polo team, a unique double. While Philip captained the GB team, three other Sutton and Cheam Players, G.Bernard, P.Cartledge and P.Paolella were members of the team.

The club's junior water polo team has won the Junior National Championships 8 times and has been runners up on several occasions. In one spell of 7 years, Sutton and Cheam's junior water polo team won the National Championships 5 times and were runners up once. In 1977 and 1979, the Club were Great Britain's representatives in the Europa Cup in Sophia and Zurich respectively.

1980 was a particularly successful year, with G.Bernard being awarded the Swimming Times Trophy, J.Pearson winning the National 16/17 backstroke title and the polo team, under Charlie Thurley's coaching, making a clean sweep of all Championship titles except SCASA.

In 1981, after another year as National Champions, five of the team including Phil Howden, and GB Internationals Chris Harrison and Peter Lang, emigrated to Australia, severely weakening prospects for the next few years. The club's loss was Australia's gain as Chris Harrison changed allegiance to play with the Australian National side and more recently, Phil's son was selected for the Australian Water Polo Academy, a two-year full time sports course designed to produce their future internationals. The club still has close ties with its former players and over the past 20 years, we have sent a number of our younger players 'down under' for invaluable experience.

In June this year, some of our present Masters team (Colin King, Nigel Gornall, Nicky Furneaux and John Salter) met up again with Phil Howden, Stefan Radwanski and Peter Paolella and others to compete in the 10th FINA World Masters Championships in San Marino, Italy (under the banner of 'Brisbane Barracudas'). Many old friendships were renrewed and new ones made.

1987 saw Channel 4's "Challenge to Sport" featuring World Superstars Champion and Olympic athlete Brian Hooper training with the Sutton and Cheam water polo team. Following the television feature, the club achieved commercial sponsorship and club colours were changed from the original green and gold to the current red, white and blue to fit the sponsor's logo. However, our 'Old Gits' Water Polo team continue to wear the green and gold with pride.

After a few lean years (by their standards), the water polo team recommenced its winning ways again under Charlie Thurley's coaching making a clean sweep of the National Water Polo League, the ASA knockout title and the Deepwater Championships in 1989; the National League for the second year running in 1990, and both the ASA knockout and ASA Junior titles in 1994.

Over the past 40 years, many members, too numerous to mention by name have swum and played for Surrey and the Southern Counties, some have reached National and International standard.

It is the proud record of the club that many of its outstanding successes have been 'home grown', with many of its swimmers and water polo players, including John Thurley, Philip Howden and James Pearson, having joined in the 5 - 7 years age group and learning to swim at Sutton and Cheam, going on to achieve the highest honours.

Many generations of swimmers owe their success to 'Mrs T'. In her latter years, although severely disabled with rheumatoid arthritis, she was rarely absent from the poolside, often coaching from her wheelchair. Just two hours before she died, aged 85, on February 2, 2003, she dictated the week's swimming schedules, continuing to be an inspiration at the club she served so well for 42 years.

Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club's Olympic representatives since the post World War II resumption of the Games have been:

Mention should also be made of Adrian Parker, who did his swim training with the club on his way to a Gold Medal in the Modern Pentathlon at the Montreal Olympics of 1976.

The tradition continues with another of 'Mrs T's' boys, Matthew Kidd, who spent his early years with Sutton and Cheam, becoming triple National Champion with the club and achieving selection for the England Junior team, before moving on to Leatherhead and now Auburn University, Alabama, USA. Matthew, now British Record Holder for the 100m freestyle, made the British team for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and took a silver medal in the relay in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002, after which he returned to show his silver medal to the boys of his former club.

Matthew was recently selected for the Great Britain Swimming Team for Athens 2004, where he competed in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay.

And so to the present day. 'Mrs T's' legacy lives on with son Charlie beginning the recent revival of the club's junior water polo fortunes, before handing over the reins to another of her 'boys', David Andrews, himself a former swimmer and junior international water polo player. David has taken the development a stage further and the club now has a thriving junior section with players as young as 10 years learning and enjoying the game. An early success for David has been the club's under 16 team who recently took the silver medal in this year's National Championships.

Finally, yet another of her 'boys', Jamie Stewart, has recently taken on the role of Chief Swimming Coach and the signs are looking good for continuing success.