Birth of Oasis Otters Swimming Club

 

The Dandenong Oasis centre formed the Club 'Oasis Otters' in 1996/97.  The Dandenong Oasis centre realised that something was missing from its swimming program and identified that another step was needed for swim school participants to take. After much deliberation it was agreed that the Centre would form a competitive swimming club, and the 'Oasis Otters' was born. Originally the 'Otters' started life with four squads: Advanced Squad, Intermediate Squad, Pre Squad and Tri/Masters Squad.

The coaches of these squads were Steve Mansbridge, Wayne Wilson, Brenda Duffy and Christine Goldfinch. Over the years, the structure of the 'Otters' squads has changed several times to cope with the different profile of swimmers.

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Incorporated Club 

 

The 'Otters' remained under the full control of the Centre until 1999/2000, when the Club was incorporated to comply with Swimming Victoria's constitution.  Later that year, 'Oasis Otters Swimming Club Inc' began its life and has remained the same since.

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Oasis Otters Head Coaches 

 

Steve Mansbridge was the first official head coach from 1998 to 2001. After Steve finished coaching, Gary Koster was appointed and held the position for 5 months. Wayne Wilson was then successful in gaining the position and was Head Coach up until May 2005. Anthony Coulson took over as acting Head Coach before being appointed to the position in July 2005. Anthony resigned from the position in June 2006, and Andreas Falkenau was appointed as Head Coach in July 2006. Andreas resigned in September 2008, and Anthony Coulson was appointed Head Coach in October 2008. After 14 months of increasing the competitiveness of the Club, Anthony resigned in January 2010 and James Lin was appointed Head Coach.

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Albury North Lavington Swim Meet 

 

In 1998, the Club made its first trip to Albury for the 'Albury North Lavington' swim meet. Forty-nine swimmers and parents made the journey north and it soon became an annual occurrence. After the 'Otters' returned to swim the following year, both committees decided it would be a good idea to hold an 'annual challenge' between the 'Otters' and the 'Albury North Lavington' swimming clubs. For 4 years the 'Otters' went head to head with Albury North Lavington for the 'Challenge Cup'. The 'Otters' were successful in swimming the trophy for the first time in the 2004/2005 season! Unfortunately, due to the changes in the Club we have not been able to participate in the swim meet in recent years.

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Otters Encouragement Meet

 

In October 2006, the Club held it's first external swim meet; the inaugural Otters Twilight Encouragement meet at the Dandenong Oasis centre and attracted over 240 competitors and 250 spectators from clubs from Geelong through to Phillip Island. The Club continued to hold the meet in the first week of October until after 2011, the Oasis Otters Twilight Encouragement Meet was moved to May annually. 

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National Representatives 

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• Charlotte Beales was the first 'Otters' swimmer to represent the Club at the 'Age' Nationals in 2004 & 2005, and Short Course Nationals in 2004.

• Adrian Scott became the second 'Otters' swimmer to represent the Club at Nationals when he competed at the 'Age' Nationals in April 2006.

• Hassan Afshin Azar represented the Club at the 2013 Age National Championships in Adelaide.

• In 2014, Hamed joined his brother and both Afshin Azar brothers represented the Club at the 2014, 2015 & 2016 Age National Championships in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide respectively. Both brothers reached the finals at the championships, with Hamed coming 4th in the 100m backstroke and 5th in the 200m IM.

• In May 2022, Andrew Dinh represented the club and competed at the 2022 Australian Age Championships for seven Multi-Class events. 

• In August 2022, Kelvin Tran represented the Otters at the 2022 Australian Open Short Course Championships; in the 400M Freestyle Multi-Class event. He is the first swimmer to compete at the Australian Open Championships.

• In April 2023, Andrew Dinh, Giorgia Hyde, Bronwyn Zheng, Deniel Atkinson, Brady Thomassen, Henry Han and Jayden Mcewan represented Otters to compete at the 2023 Australian MC & Age Championships. It was Andrew's second time competing at the Australian age Championships and swam all new PBs for his 8 events. The Girls and Boys' Relay team represented the Otters for the first time in National Championships. This culminated in new PBs and new ranking for everyone involved. 

• In April 2023, Kelvin Tran represented Otters to compete at the 2023 Australian Open Championships for his 400M Freestyle Multi-Class event. He swam PBs in Heats and Finals of the Championships.

• In September 2023, Kelvin Tran represented Otters to compete at the 2023 Australian Open Short Course Championships for his 400M Freestyle Multi-Class event. He made the Finals and got 5th place.​​

 

 

Life Members

 

In 2004/2005, Peter Bates was elected as the Club's first Life Member, and in 2007/2008 Patricia Kapoyanis was elected as the Club's second Life Member. In 2011/2012, Mark Thiele was elected as the third Life Member of the Club.