My association with the "WUC" began early in the 1960s.
We had our monthly meetings in the “Master Builder’s Hall” in Kensington Street (off Abel Smith Street).
Once a month we had a baths night. The first one of these that I attended was at Thorndon Pool where Joe Tomlin brought along a “hubble bubble”, a petrol powered underwater breathing apparatus. It was a great feeling to lie on the bottom of the pool and breathe; an experience I wasn’t to repeat until 1971 when I started SCUBA diving.
Our baths night venue changed to Karori Pool and these were generally well attended. After swimming up and down and practising skills needed for more serious spearfishing, someone would suggest a game of underwater football. There were no rules and I don’t remember a referee, but a lead weight was put into a sock and the total number of members was split into two teams, one each end. The “ball” was thrown into the middle of the pool and a melee followed. A goal was scored when the weight was thrown out of the pool at either end. For everyone concerned it was a short spell of sheer madness but it was, I suppose, an exercise in controlled breathing. A standard and popular tackle was to swim up on someone and pull his snorkel from behind thereby dragging it down his throat, or pulling his togs off. I know other older members will remember these nights with fondness.
