A lot has happened since the Southern Highlands Water Polo (SHWP) Club was founded 42 years ago.
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To celebrate the memorable moments during that time, the club is holding a 40th anniversary dinner at the Mittagong RSL Club from 6pm to 11.30pm on Saturday, October 8.
The event was supposed to be held in 2020, but COVID-19 postponed the reunion buffet dinner three times.
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The history of the club began in the late '70s when Bowral Pool staff Kevin Connors and Tony Fahey worked on developing the Bowral Water Polo competition which is now known as SHWP.
The competition officially began on February 6, 1980 with six teams and up until the late '90s, all competitions were played at the Bowral Memorial Pool.
In the early years, players had to deal with bitter conditions in unheated water, but the heating of all local pools was undertaken from around 1996. However, the gas often blew out and matches would still be played in cold water.
At this time, the club relocated competitions to Mittagong Pool and adopted the site as its home ground.
In 2015, the Frensham School opened the Centenary Pool at Mittagong and SHWP was able to use the facility.
The only low for the club came in 2017 when the clubhouse at Mittagong Pool, built in 1998 with support from a council grant and a number of generous material and labour contributions from the water polo community, was lost in a vandal fire.
As a result, a lot of club equipment and records were destroyed.
The Club has hosted about seven NSW Water Polo Country Club Championships throughout the years, producing two national representatives Erin and Kelly Douglass.
Throughout the years, the club has seen many patrons, administrators and referees and the anniversary is an opportunity to acknowledge their support.
The guest speaker on the night, former Australian water polo player Daniel Marsden, will be interviewed by emcee and former water polo player Steve Anderson.
Tickets to the 40th Anniversary Dinner on Saturday, October 8 at the Mittagong RSL Club cost $60 per person and are available here.
For more information, contact Miles Lochhead on 0409 038 366.
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