Spencer is a coached, competitive club for adult swimmers of mixed ability — from returners chasing fitness to athletes racing for Great Britain. Come and trial a session on us.
Established in 1977, long before masters swimming found its current popularity, Spencer has grown into a home for adult swimmers across South and South West London. Members train and compete at masters meets across the UK, Europe and internationally, take on open water, triathlon and Ironman events, and tackle endurance challenges like channel swimming — alongside plenty who simply swim for fitness and the social side of it.
We're volunteer-run, which means the club's success depends on members who pitch in — it's part of what makes Spencer feel like a club, not a leisure centre timetable.
Every session is built and delivered by qualified Swim England coaches with years of experience training competitive swimmers — so technique, speed and fitness all improve with real structure behind them, not just laps.
Our sessions run across South and South West London, giving members multiple chances each week to train alongside other high-standard swimmers, whatever level you're starting from.
Sessions vary in format and character. Expect to swim a minimum of 2.5km, rising to 4.5km in the faster 90-minute sessions.
Trials work both ways: they let you see whether our training format suits you, and let our coaches confirm you can swim to a standard consistent with the current squad — around 90 members swim regularly, and holding a common standard keeps every session running smoothly for everyone in the lane.
Usually at a convenient pool. The coach assigns you a lane and you join the session for as long as you're able.
Lanes range from 100m freestyle at 1:50–2:00 intervals up to our fastest swimmers holding 1:20 on 100m front crawl.
Commit within 7–10 days of being offered a spot — after that it may pass to the next swimmer on the waitlist.
Once you're in, our membership secretary handles all the paperwork — membership fees, monthly training fee setup, all of it explained clearly and in advance.
Our coaches assess ability across all four strokes during the trial, since sessions often include multi-stroke sets. Don't know your pace? That's completely normal — most returners don't, and we allow for a lack of fitness that sharpens up fast once you're training with us regularly.
Many new members are returning after time off — short or long. Our coaches offer real feedback to help you rediscover your form fast, and the squad is genuinely there to encourage you; most of us have been the nervous new swimmer at some point too.
In the first few months we encourage new members to train slightly above the level they expect to settle at long-term — it builds fitness faster and helps you feel at home in your lane. That's why new swimmers join on an unlimited training membership: full access to 10 hours of training a week to really get stuck in.
Spencer is a competitive swimming club at heart, but competing isn't compulsory. We welcome committed swimmers who simply want to train for fitness, alongside those chasing county, national or international times.
Hold off on the big kit shop. At first you'll really only need the basics — the rest can wait until you know what you like, and existing members are always happy to talk brands and models.
Fill in your details below and we'll be in touch to arrange your trial session — no pressure, no long forms.
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Prefer email? Reach us directly at spencerswimteam@googlemail.com.