The Santa Clara Swim Club (abbreviated SCSC) is a renowned swimming club and team based in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

. Part of USA Swimming, it is a

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overal ...

Silver Medal Club and a part of the Pacific Swimming LSC, sub-governed by Zone 1 South. Founded in 1951 by

George Haines George Frederick Haines (March 9, 1924 – May 1, 2006) was a swimmer and swimming coach who coached at the Santa Clara Swim Club, Stanford University and UCLA. He also coached for seven U.S. Olympic swim teams. He was inducted into the In ...

, the team's coach until 1974, the club has many notable alumni, including Donna de Varona,

Pablo Morales Pedro Pablo Morales Jr. (born December 5, 1964) is an American former competitive swimmer. He set world records in the 100-meter butterfly in 1984 and 1986. He was the 100-meter butterfly gold medalist at the 1992 Olympic Games, as well as win ...

Don Schollander Donald Arthur Schollander (born April 30, 1946) is an American former competition swimmer, five-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. He won a total of five gold medals and one silver medal at the 1964 and 1968 S ...

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Chris von Saltza Susan Christina von Saltza (born January 13, 1944), also known by her married name Christina Olmstead, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. As an age group swimmer, von Salt ...

Lynn Burke Lynn Edythe Burke (born March 22, 1943), also known by her married name Lynn McConville, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. She competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome ...

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, Tom Bruce, Steve Clark,

Claudia Kolb Claudia Anne Kolb (born December 19, 1949), also known by her married name Claudia Thomas, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. Kolb represented the United States a ...

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Dick Roth Richard William Roth (born September 26, 1947) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. He swam in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, where he won the gold medal for his fi ...

Tom Wilkens Thomas Peter Wilkens (born November 25, 1975) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic medalist. Wilkens represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He received a bronze medal for his third-plac ...

Greg Buckingham Gregory Fenton Buckingham (July 29, 1945 – November 11, 1990) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. Buckingham was born in Riverside, California, and attended Menlo-Atherton High ...

(brother of former

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), and

Paul Hait Paul William Hait (born May 25, 1940) is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is an Olympic champion and former world record-holder. Hait won a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay at the 1960 Summer Olymp ...

. Swimmers from the club have earned 71 Olympic medals: 42 gold, 18 silver, and 11 bronze. In 1966, the City of Santa Clara built the Santa Clara International Swim Center, which became the home of the club. It was renamed the George F. Haines International Swim Center in June 2001 in honor of its founding coach. The Swim Center is also home to the Santa Clara Diving Club. The Swim Center has hosted the Santa Clara International Grand Prix annually for 42 years. Since its inception, 23 world records, 333 American records, and 64 foreign national records have been set at the meet, including a world record set by

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

in 2003. The Swim Center has hosted Senior Nationals, Junior Nationals, Western Zone Championships, Pacific Swimming Far Western Championships, and Masters Nationals. The Santa Clara Swim Club is known for its history as a successful swim club, and for a time in the 1960s-1970s was widely considered the premier club in the United States. The Club maintains an excelling competitive team under head coach Kevin Zacher (the former coach of

Taylor Ruck Taylor Madison Ruck (born May 28, 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. She won two Olympic bronze medals as part of Canada's women's 4×100 metre and 4×200 metre freestyle relay teams at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ruck wo ...

), preceded by John Bitter (fired because of misappropriated funds), and before that, Dick Jochums. The Masters program is highly popular as well. The president of the board of directors of the team is former Olympian Chris Cavanaugh. The annual Santa Clara International Grand Prix continues to regularly attract Olympian athletes including Michael Phelps.

References

Santa Clara Swim Club website

Gary Wiens, "Michael Phelps at Santa Clara Swim Club", Metblogs - San Jose, June 11, 2009

Santa Clara Diving Club website
Sports in Santa Clara, California Swimming clubs {{California-sport-stub