Ringwood Swimming Club has been part of the Ringwood community for more than 95 years.

Established in 1927, the first known swimming facility for Ringwood Swimming Club was an old quarry hole in Knaith Road in East Ringwood.  A diving tower was built and proved quite popular with local residents.  However when two young children drowned in the quarry, it was closed to swimming.  Photographs are still available for viewing through the Ringwood Historical Society.

In 1933 during the depression, a new pool was built by out-of-work Ringwood residents.  It was constructed in Ringwood Street where the Eastland Shopping Centre car park is now located.  Ringwood Swimming Club was re-established there and was active until 1950 when it disbanded due to lack of numbers.

After 3 years, the Club was re-established as the Ringwood Swimming and Life Saving Club.  But due to lack of funds, the Club was unable to affiliate with the Victorian Amateur Swimming Association (VASA).  However it did retain its affiliation with the Royal Life Saving Society.

With the focus on being a Life Saving Club, Ringwood continued to be very active in teaching children the survival sport of swimming.  As the Club was not eligible to swim in Amateur competition, a new club was formed called the Maroondah Amateur Swimming Club (not the present day Maroondah Club) and at the end of the season, swimmers who wanted to swim in Amateur competition joined the new club which had affiliated with VASA.  But again, the Maroondah club was to face difficult times and it too closed down.  Swimmers still interested in Life Saving transferred back to the Ringwood club.

1960 saw Ringwood successfully apply to become part of the Amateur Association and finally saw Ringwood Swimming and Life Saving Club swimming in competition against Lilydale and other clubs in the district.

The Club remained at the Eastland site until the current pool, the Fred Dwerryhouse Pool in Jubilee Park, named after the former Town Clerk, opened on 31 October 1970.  The new 50m pool was an open-air venue with sweeping lawns and plenty of space for people to relax in comfort – quite a change from the 33 yard pool and “concrete jungle” everyone had been used to at Ringwood Street. 

Over the next several years, Ringwood Council set about major improvements to the Dwerryhouse pool making it an even better venue for Ringwood residents and the Club.  In 1982, Council approved funding and the main pool was heated.  Then in 1985, Council had the foresight to develop the main pool as an indoor complex at a cost of $3m.  However this meant the pool had to close during construction, and so in March 1985, the Club temporarily relocated to Tally-Ho at Burwood Highway and Springvale Road.  
 
The new indoor complex was completed and officially opened on 27 July 1987 as the Ringwood Aquatic Centre and on the day following the opening, the Club returned to the new complex to begin an exciting new era of swimming.

At a special meeting of members in 1986, the Club became an Incorporated body under Articles of Association set up by the State Government.  This would provide protection to the Committee and to all members against any legal action that might arise from an injury, accident or any other event.  At that same meeting, it was decided the Club should return to the original name of the Ringwood Swimming Club.

In the lead up to the 1992 Olympics, the Ringwood Aquatic Centre hosted the Australian butterfly squad in their final training sessions prior to heading off to Barcelona.  This provided a wonderful opportunity for the community and Club members to see some of their heroes up close and watch the commitment and work ethic of swimmers at this elite level.  Susie O’Neill and Jon Sieben were two of the swimmers who trained at Ringwood during this time.

In 1995 after many years and many plans that never quite eventuated, the Club finally succeeded in getting “a home of its own”.  With assistance from Council, the Club purchased, relocated and refurbished the old library building from a local Primary School, now the site of the Ringwood Bowling Club.  On 27 August 1995, a large gathering of past and current members including 6 past Presidents, saw Life Member, past President and Club Patron, and former mayor of Ringwood, Lillian Rosewarne, officially open our Clubrooms at the Ringwood Aquatic Centre.  The Club finally had a permanent home, somewhere to show its trophies, awards and photos, and a place for our swimmers to meet, to chat and to train.

From 1996 to 2010, the Club ran its own Annual Swim Meet in June at the Ringwood pool, attracting many competitors and spectators each year. From 2009 to 2011, the Club also held its Annual Sprint Meet at this pool in December.  Swimmers representing clubs from across the metropolitan area and from many country centres ventured to the Ringwood Aquatic Centre to participate in these meets.  While providing strong competition for our swimmers in their home pool, these meets were also valuable sources of income for the Club to fund wider competition and other activities for all members.

In 2005, the Club become involved in the Melbourne 2005 Deaf Olympics. Three hearing impaired members were chosen to represent Australia in the first Deaf Olympics held in Australia. 

In 2012, the Ringwood pool closed for redevelopment, which meant the loss of the Clubrooms as well. Construction of the new facility (Aquanation) started in August 2013. Aquanation, the State Diving Centre & regional aquatic and leisure centre, and opened in August, 2015. This new facility includes new Clubrooms where the Club can again display its trophies, awards and history and be a gathering place for members. During the development of Aquanation, the Club successfully moved all training to Aquahub (formerly Croydon Leisure and Aquatic Centre) whilst managing to grow membership numbers. In 2015, the Club will recommence hosting the Annual Short Course and Sprint Meets at our new home pool.

The Club enjoys an increasing level of competitive success by our intermediate and senior swimmers at State and National competitions. Equally as pleasing is the success of our junior swimmers at Swimming Victoria State meets (All Junior and 7-10 Encouragement) and of our members attending the Tasmanian State Championships in March each year.

Over all these years, we are very proud that the Club has managed to be competitive and successful while maintaining its friendly, family-oriented atmosphere.