The longest running swimming club in the country, based at the oldest working swimming pool in the country, has started a campaign to ensure its future.

Westbury Amateur Swimming Club still uses the town’s 1887 Victorian pool in Church Street. Founded in 1897, it is officially the oldest club in the country.

The club reached a record low in members at the turn of the year with only 73 on the books.

Committee member Neil Tribick, 50, from Studland Park, Westbury, is marketing the campaign.

His 17-year-old son Jonathan is the club’s boys captain and his other son Matthew, 20, swims for the club when home from studying at Sheffield University.

He said: “I went to a presentation evening in January and chairman Mark Hanney explained that the club was teetering on the brink because of the lack of members. This is probably because of other pressures and activities available to children today.

“My message to all the kids is if you want to keep fit for any sport swimming is absolutely fantastic. It’s low impact so it doesn’t put strain on the joints, it’s a great aerobic exercise and it builds muscle tone.

“There’s also the added incentive for children of the 2012 Olympics.”

The club has already booster its numbers by visiting local schools. Boys captain Jonathan Tribick and girls captain Kate Gould are due to talk to pupils at Bitham Brook Primary School on June 15.

It plans to deliver leaflets through the town on June 7, and is also bidding for an Awards for All Lottery grant for about £10,000. Mr Tribick added: “We need new equipment such as starting blocks, training boards, lane ropes, kick fins and hand paddles. A set of starting blocks, training boards and lane ropes costs approximately £6,500, and that’s the basement end.

“We also want to get T-shirts and training tracksuits so when we turn up to galas we look like a proper team.”

A sponsored swim has been arranged in memory of former member Jonathan Sims, who died of a brain tumour in March, aged 25.

The former Clarendon College pupil, who had worked at Trowbridge Sports Centre, had been a member of Westbury Swimming Club since childhood and was a great inspiration to others.

The event on July 14-15, will see members swimming 21 miles, the distance between Dover and Calais, and 35 per cent of the money raised will go to charity.

To sponsor the club visit their new website at www.westburyasc.co.uk or call club chairman Mark Hanney on 01373 865138.