Out to Swim- History
30 Years of Aquatics for All: Diogo’s idea 11/25
OTS attends Gay Games New York in 1994
OTS celebrate Pride in London 2024
Out to Swim’s History
Out to Swim was started in 1992 by a group of entrepenaurial LGBT+ swimmers. Their ethos was to get a safe space for the LGBT community to swim at a time when homophobia was rife in the UK. The AIDS/HIV crisis was approaching its peak and the community needed a safe space to gather and celebrate each other.
Following the efforts of members past and present, they team was able to hire pool time in Central London and start a community.
The videos would be interviews with founding/oldest club members: Ben Gifford, David Forrest, Phil Collins, Vicki Carter, etc.
OTS attend Gay Games in 1998
Out to Swim's Timeline and Milestones
- 1992- The club is formed
a group of friends get together and form a swim club renting pooltime at various pools, providing a safe space for LGBT+ swimmers in London- 1994- OTS attends Gay Games in New York
- 1998- OTS attends Gay Games in Amsterdam
- 2000- OTS attends IGLA in Paris
- 2000- OTS creates its website
To join the club, one should fill in a form and post it- 2004- The Orca team is born and OTS adds Water polo to its disciplines
- 2006- Brighton joins the OTS family
- 2009- The Angels are formed and add Artistic Swimming to the OTS family
- 2010- OTS attends Gay Games in Cologne
- 2018- OTS attends Gay Games in Paris
- 2019- OTS attends IGLA in New York
- 2020- OTS during the Covid-19 pandemic
several Zoom cals are organised where members discuss the series "It's a Sin" and share personal stories and their experience during the HIV/Aids crisis depicted in the seriesthe club also keep in touch by doing various virtual exercise classes and ready for the eventual return to swimming- 2023- London hosts IGLA
thanks to the hard work of various volunteers, OTS bid and are successful in hosting IGLA. Everyone compliments the club on a well run event and everyone enjoys swimming at the Olympic pool. The final display at Pink Flamingo, where swimmers use big rainbow coloured ribbons in their display, bring tears to some eyes.- 2025- Newcastle and Bournemouth & Poole join the OTS family
- 2025- London Swim lanes rebranded
following years of lanes numbered 1-10, OTS rebrands its swim lanes to remove the stigma surrounding lower and upper lanesThe new names were chosen from the Periodic Table: Neon, Cobalt, Magnesium and Titanium
Gallery
Part of the project would be to categorise the photos. For example: Gay Games 1998, EuroGames 2000, Christmas Party 1996, etc.
