Wagga Beach History
Early indications of community based swimming clubs at Wagga Wagga date back to 1890’s. The area now referred to as The Bend stretched from The Rocks down-stream to Little Gurwood Street (today named Sturt Street after English explorer Charles Sturt). By the 1920’s the area was known to have various swimming groups; newspaper articles of the day described people traveling from as far away as Cowra to spend the weekend at the cool Murrumbidgee River waters at Wagga Wagga Beach.
In the late 1920’s the Wagga Amateur Lifesaving Club, Badgers (social footballers) Lifesaving Club and Wagga Amateur Swimming Club co-existed at the beach.
For the capital cost of £40 the installation of lighting at the beach saw the introduction of night time swimming.
In 1927 the Amateur and Badgers Lifesaving Clubs merged to form the Wagga Beach Lifesaving Club followed 2 years later by the Amateur Swimming Club. The club continued to operate until the 1970’s, only disrupted during World War 2. With men joining the armed services during during this time, the Women’s Beach Lifesaving Club was formed to patrol the beach. In 1953, the Wagga Beach Life Saving Club changed its name to the Wagga Amateur Swimming and Life Saving Club to incorporate the clubs move to the new pool facilities at Morgan Street and maintained a presence at the beach. The club ended its relationship with the beach in the early 1970’s.
The Wagga Leagues Swimming Club (WLSC) was formed on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga Beach (Cabarita Park) in 1964; and began a long association with the Wagga Leagues Club. Founded by Bruce Miller and Ian Craft whilst originally consisting of rugby league footballers and former members of the lifesaving club; the group would meet for a swim and a talk over a few beers.
Meeting each Thursday night for over 50 years the club has maintained a close attachment to the precinct. The clubs 70+ membership participates in run/swim events in summer, run/fitness events in winter, fitness sessions on Saturday mornings and weekend social/competition swims. The club has over 70 members from a wide cross section of the community; varying in age between 20 and 90 years and from diverse occupations within the private and public sectors. Although not providing a Lifesaving service, the presence of the WLSC at the beach has proven beneficial with a variety of incidents over the years.
The Club takes pride in continuing the tradition of maintaining its activities at the beach and achieving in historical terms the longest presence of any club in the precincts history.