Club Natación y Gimnasia is a
rugby union and
field hockey club from
San Miguel de Tucumán,
Argentina. Founded in 1930 as a multi-sports club, Natación y Gimnasia is registered with the
Unión de Rugby de Tucumán.
Despite its name,
swimming and
gymnastics are no longer practiced at the club.
Natación y Gimnasia is one of the most successful rugby clubs in Tucumán, having won the
Torneo del Noroeste 8 times to date.
History
The institution was founded in San Miguel de Tucumán on 21 February 1930, as a multi-sports club. A large variety of activities were practiced at the club, including
equestrianism
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...
,
fencing,
athletics,
tennis and of course
swimming and
gymnastics. The
rugby union section, for which the club is most famous today, started in 1941.
By the 1940s the club had become one of the best multi-sports club in the country. Following a controversial political decision, the club was absorbed by the
Universidad Nacional de Tucumán in 1945. The club would try and fight the decision, to no avail.
Members of the rugby section, unhappy with the decision, decided not to join UNT and created a new club, using the old Natación y Gimnasia name.
Playing the game since 1936, Natación y Gimnasia's
rugby union section was officially founded in 1941 thus becoming the first rugby club in the province. Along with
Tucumán Rugby Club
Tucumán Rugby Club, is an Argentina, Argentine sports club based in the city of Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Yerba Buena in Tucumán Province. Although other sports (such as tennis and field hockey) are practised in the institution, Tucumán is mostly k ...
,
Universitario
Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...
and
Cardenales, Natación became one of the four founding clubs of the
Unión de Rugby de Tucumán.
Following the club's takeover by the
Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, members of the rugby section decided to keep the old institution alive and re-founded Club Natación y Gimnasia in 1945 as a rugby union club only.
As most installations of the old club had also been taken over by UNT, the new club had to find somewhere to play. The club used the fields originally used by the equestrianism section of Natación, until the club acquired their own installations (following another political decision) in 1988.
Today the club is one of the most successful rugby institutions in the province, having won the provincial title 8 times.
In 2012 Natación y Gimnasia started the construction of a
field hockey stadium to host the
2012–14 Women's FIH Hockey World League Final
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...
that would be held in November–December 2013. With a budget of
$ 20 million, this stadium has over 1,450 seats which added to the mobile grandstands that can be erected make a total capacity of over 6,400.
Titles
Rugby union
*
Torneo del Noroeste (8): 1947, 1949, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1995, 1996, 2016
References
External links
Official Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Club Natacion y Gimnasia
Natacion y Gimnasia
Natacion y Gimnasia
Sport in San Miguel de Tucumán
Swimming in Argentina
1930 establishments in Argentina
Field hockey venues in Argentina