The Parramatta City Amateur Swimming Club was
formed in 1952 by Bruce McDonald (coach), Colin Heckenberg (senior swimmer),
Ted Simms (pool manager) and the late Bill Johnston. Its formation came about
as a result of some dissatisfaction with the Granville Amateur Swimming Club
which had seen some of its members (including John Devitt, Barry Darke and
Barrie Kellaway) leave to join other clubs.
The founders were highly motivated and they
built a very strong executive around them. Club spirit was high and before
long Parramatta City, with nearly 800 members, was the biggest in NSW.
With such a strong and successful club and the popularity of the pool
the Parramatta City carnivals attracted exceptionally good fields in all
events. 
It was one of these carnivals that a young Dawn
Fraser was pitted against Australia's star female swimmer, Lorraine Crapp.
Dawn scorched through the 100m to beat Lorraine and she was on the way to her
own special niche in Australia and world swimming history.
One story has it that coaches Harry Gallagher
and Don Talbot, seeing Dawn for the first time and realising her potential as
she carved through the water, raced each other to the end of the pool to sign
her up as a pupil.
Granville
pool has won a lasting place in the annals of Australian swimming history.
Though John is the most
famous of Granville's swimmers the pool was host to many others who brought
glory to Australia during the halcyon years of the 1950's and early 60's.
At one time in the 1950's
Granville had 17 national Australian champions training here. As well, it was
used by other champions from time to time. Dawn Fraser and John Henricks were
two such swimmers whose coach, Harry Gallagher, brought them here on the
frequent occasions when their home base at Drummoyne was out of commission.
It was at Granville, too,
where Dawn Fraser, now an MP, first came to prominence with a win over
Lorraine Crapp.
Granville pool was also the
favoured venue for a young diver named Paul Hogan. A Granville resident, he
was chosen in the State junior diving team but is best remembered for his
clowning in the comic diving team of the Parramatta City Amateur Swimming
Club. 
His equally mad partner was
Midge Betts, a frequent winner of the State diving title from 1944 to 1961.
Because of its superior
diving facilities. including a 10m tower, Granville was. In
the words of 1952 and
1956 Olympian Frank Murphy, "the Wimbledon of diving in Sydney." Other great
divers at Granville were Arthur O'Connor and Jack McCann.
In the late 1940's and
early 1950's several Granville boys were in the top echelon of Australian
swimming. There were Barrie Kellaway, Colin Heckenberg and Barry Darke. It was
his friendship with these three and a determination to emulate them that was
the motivation for John Devitt to become the world's fastest 100m freestyler
and Olympic Gold medallist in 1956 (relay) and 1960 (100m).
John won three Gold Medals
at the 1958 Commonwealth Games, also, and world records between 1957-1963.
That he and others like him
at the time achieved so much for Australia is a credit to total dedication.
Though Granville pool was a major training venue our champion swimmers got no
special treatment. They had to share the pool with leisure swimmers. Many were
the times when butterflyer Colin Heckenberg carved a passage through the
crowd so that Devitt and Darke could train in his wake.
Parramatta City developed a strong water polo
team and a very successful relay team which included Julian Carroll and Robbie
Griffiths.
Among the administrators of the club during the
1950's were Wes Costin, whose daughter Sue was one of the best swimmers
around, and Arthur Griffith. Another administrator to earn special kudos was
Marge Purnell. She was the first woman to qualify as a referee of men's events
after the merging of the male and female divisions into a single organisation.
