Over the years it has gained an enviable reputation for its organization of sporting events. In fact, it is the only club of its kind in Quebec that focuses primarily on gay and lesbian athletes. A general meeting is held once a year to elect the board of directors. The more inclusive current name was adopted on October 22, The very first training session attracted only eight swimmers.
By the end of its first year of existence, however, the club had 60 members. In , it became the third largest masters swimming club in Quebec with 88 members. Since then, it has not relinquished its spot at the top of the heap in terms of club size. On August 31, , it reached a peak of affiliated swimmers, making it the largest team in the province. Tuesday and Thursday sessions joined the schedule in January , followed by Wednesday in September and, finally, Monday in the fall of Water polo made its debut in the winter of Diving, which had existed informally previously, became official in December Synchronized swimming was launched in March and finally, in the fall of , triathlon was added to the mix.
ACC has since acted as a partner to the City. Almost from the beginning, club members have made a tradition of dining out together after their Saturday evening workout. The club also occasionally organizes social and fund-raising activities. Most members of ACC are involved in the life of the club and participate as volunteers in organizing one or another of its activities, thus ensuring that the club can continue to fulfill its mission. Imagine for second, if you can, that you are a young Australian woman.
This particular February, it was very cold. As well, I was trying to learn French. It is very difficult to learn French in Montreal, because everybody speaks English, except when conversing among themselves, and they talk too fast. Because of this, I was homesick for quite a while at first. It seemed there were not enough Fridays in a week. You can imagine me with my eyes and mouth wide open. The idea of a gay sports club was completely new to me. I had no idea that there was a gay community outside of bars, saunas and AIDS organizations.
Afterward I was relieved that Jean-Yves was heterosexual, because I was so surprised. Did it make any difference to me? Not really. My water polo club is still the most important thing for me in Canada, even more so since I began swimming [competitively] as well.
