THE CLUB

WRASA KILLER GUPPIES

CLUB HISTORY

During cool summer mornings on White Rock beach, a small group of swimmers showed up in old fashioned swimming costumes and swam out to a collection of floating wooden decks which framed bottomless pools for swimming and diving. The tanks, as they were known, were the site of lessons, practices and spirited competition among the first members of the White Rock Amateur Swimming Assciation. The year was 1919.

In those days, White Rock was still a remote retreat from the City and it was common for tourists to take the train from Vancouver and stay a few days in the big hotels. In the evenings there were dances on the pier and families rented small cottages or built their own. For a few years, the Vancouver Sun even offered plots of land with an annual newspaper subscription. For these first 50 years, WRASA attracted between 700 and 1000 members annually its program of competitive swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming and swimming lessons for all ages.

The city grew and on September 18, 1950, WRASA was incorporated under the Societies Act of British Columbia.  By 1973, WRASA left the beach-front for its newly completed home at Sunnyside Pool. Surrey Parks and Recreation took the club's lesson program and WRASA refined its focus on training competitive summer swimmers. Through its second 50 years, WRASA honed its competitive edge and came to be known as a formidible force among swim clubs throughout the Lower Mainland.

Summer swimming provides great friendships and personal development amid social and athletic development. One decade into the new millenium, WRASA trains a team of over 100 enthusiastic swimmers of all ages and fields some of the top competitors in the province. In 2009, WRASA swimmers had a tremendous year in regular meets and the Fraser South Regional Championships. At the Provincial Championships, with so many WRASA swimmers in the Fraser South contingent, the region finished second overall in the province and WRASA swimmers took home a glittering cache of medals, ribbons and wonderful summer memories.

CLUB OBJECTIVES

• to promote and develop interest and skill in aquatics such as swimming and water polo,
• to provide an opportunity to participate in competitive swimming and water polo,
• to provide training programs under the BCSSA that develop and improve the stamina and speed of swimmers and to conduct and participate in aquatic sport competitions;
• to focus on competitive programs as well as develop and encourage lifelong physical and social skills;
• to encourage a sense of community, to provide an environment for summertime social and sporting activity, to build an esprit de corps and to support family involvement; and
• to provide the opportunity for senior swimmers, water polo players and youth members to develop leadership skill and coaching expertise