A Brief History of the University City Swim Club
Today 450 families, a total of about 1500 people, enjoy the wonderful facilities of the UCSC each summer. We are proud of our history of volunteerism and diversity, and want to share that history with our new members.
The next time you’re at the Club, take a look at the small plaque outside the office door. Read the list of our founding board members, led by Dr. James Cox, who remains a member to this day. Try to imagine their audacity … in the 1960s, in the heart of an urban area, they proposed an integrated swim club. They convinced the original 300 families to commit significant funds (close to $2000 in today’s dollars!) to join the envisioned Club, and some of them took personal responsibility for the construction loan.

The Club opened mid-summer 1964. With air conditioning less common than now, the Club was a particularly valuable respite from Philadelphia summers. Fun, friendships and even romance flourished. There has always been a real family atmosphere, especially around the baby pool, where parents connected with each other. Season after season, all members could watch as the younger children learned to swim, ventured down the slide or off the diving board, and then grew up to become our lifeguards and even the parents of the next generation. In the dining area, some talented folks developed reputations for the excellence of their barbequing. Families could spend all day into evening here; parents let their toddlers splash under the stars, then changed them directly into pajamas for the trip home and into bed.

For years the original L-shaped pool and baby pool (of which the original spraying seal survives!) served the Club well. By the late 1990s failing equipment, cloudy water and crumbling concrete made it clear that a major renovation was needed. In 2002,

Club History Page 2