For 100 years now, summer in the Belknap neighborhood has meant one thing — it’s time for a swim.
The Lakeside Swim Club is celebrating its 100th birthday this year — they even buried a time capsule last week. So, before we dive in to the club, let’s just dip our toes with a look at the former quarry-turned-lake by the numbers.
- 13 — the max depth of the quarry, in feet
- 40 — the height of the cliffs that surround the quarry, in feet
- 3.5 million — the number of gallons of water that fill the quarry
- 15,000 — the number of small-mouth bass that inhabited the quarry ~100 years ago
- 11 — the number of Olympic swimmers who trained at Lakeside
🥇 Gold (medal) standard
Since 1928, the club has been home to the Lakeside Seahawks swim team, which has produced 11 Olympians in its history — including “Madame Butterfly” herself, Mary T. Meagher.
The Olympians aren’t the only reason the team + club are prestigious. Each year, Lakeside hosts the oldest continuously-open swim meet in the US, the Ohio Valley Championships. The competition was held for the 96th time last June.
🌊 At Lakeside, they mean lake-side
Here at LOUtoday, we strive to be hyperlocal to Derby City, but Lakeside might be even more hyperlocal than we are. Membership is limited to homeowners in the neighborhood surrounding the club + associate members who are sponsored by a neighborhood member. Basically, you gotta live nearby or know somebody who does.
Bonus: Want to go into the deep end on Lakeside’s century of history? Club member Brigid Kaelin has taken a deep dive with her new book, “Lakeside,” released earlier this year, including 300+ photos.
