Leander Amateur Swimming Club has been part of Belfast’s sporting life since 1964. Founded in March that year by Bobby Madine, alongside David and Nancy McCullough, Leander is a friendly family club catering for the full range of abilities, from learn-to-swim and stroke development right through to performance swimmers on individualised training programmes built around monthly lactate testing.
Now with over 200 active members, the club celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2024 and remains affiliated to Swim Ireland and Swim Ulster, a registered charity (NIC102327) and a member of Sported NI.
Leander swimmers have represented their country at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World and European Championships. Club Olympians include Andy Hunter (1972), Robbie Howard (1976), Marion Madine (1996) and Sycerika McMahon (2012), with Mollie McAlorum more recently representing Northern Ireland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and Oliver Duffield at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago.
The club’s performance programme is led by head coach Kathryn Wylie, a Swim Ireland tutor and Level 3 coach of more than 20 years’ standing who has guided swimmers to the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and European Youth Olympics, and who was named the Federation of Irish Sport’s ‘Volunteer in Sport’ Award winner for 2025.
The club trains mainly at:
Olympia Leisure Centre, Boucher Road, Belfast.
For further information, please email leanderasc@gmail.com, visit https://www.leanderswimming.com/ or find us on Instagram or our Facebook page.
Leander Swimming Club
