Marple Newtown Swim Club Celebrates 60 Years

BROOMALL–It’s a banner year for the . The club, which is nestled in the heart of a charming Broomall neighborhood, hosted a 60th anniversary party for its members on Saturday.

From the youngest members to the most seasoned, fun was had by all. Many of the 475 members and their families came out to enjoy a special day of games and tasty treats such as hot dogs, Philly pretzels and snow cones.

There was a moon bounce, shuffleboard, inflatable basketball, swimming races, and the funniest dive contest to be enjoyed by many of the younger members at the swim club. There were raffles for great goodies, and a big birthday cake that was quickly gobbled up by partygoers.

The Swim Club, off of Sunset Boulevard, is the perfect place for kids to go from Memorial Day to Labor Day, says the president of the club, David Benasutti.

“The kids get dropped off for swim practice in the morning, and spend the whole day here,” Benasutti says. “We have activities throughout the season. We have face-painting, half-price guest days, and Fridays are tube nights where everybody is in a tube and we show movies on the big screen. We have kiddie and pre-teen Splash Nights with pizzas, games and a DJ.”

Paige Benesutti, 12, says she’s thrilled about coming to the Swim Club.

“It’s a lot of fun. I like the swimming events and the Splash parties,” she says.

Her friend, 10-year-old Maggie O’Neill, enjoys it too.

“I love the swim and the dive teams,” says O’Neill.

The Swim Club’s swim and dive teams are part of the Suburban Swim League, which competes with other clubs in the area like , , Hidden Hollow and Aronimink.

“We have one of the best coaches around. Henny Hiemenz coaches the team. He was the coach at Radnor High School for 27 years,” says Benasutti.

About 130 kids are on the swim and dive team, and they participate in meets during the season. The Swim Club hosted the championships last month.

Visitors can buy a bite to eat at the snack bar, or there’s a room to have a pizza party too. 

Benasutti says the Swim Club is always looking for new members, so he encourages those that are interested to take a look. You can find more information about the Swim Club on their website.

For many of these devoted members, there’s no other place to be in the summer.

Eleanor Moiani has been coming to the pool since the 1950s, spent many summers participating in the swim meets, and now brings her two sons, and their kids too.

“I live in the neighborhood. The water is so blue, and it’s sunny. It’s my Bermuda,” says Moiani.