Today Rémi Artusio, vice-president of the NWP club, gives us his time to answer a few questions about the club, its future, and its ambitions.
What is the club’s history in a few dates?
“The club was founded in 1998. At that time my brother Renaud (co-founder of the club) was playing water polo in a club, but the sport was only secondary, and they (his teammates and him) couldn’t make it grow within the club. So, they decided to leave and create their own. In the early days of NWP, they used to swim in the sea because the town hall didn’t provide them with pool slots. Later, they managed to obtain some thanks to the radio and the press that were able to publicize this abnormality.”
How has the club evolved since its creation up to today? How can you continue to grow?
“For about ten years, the club was held up by sheer determination, growing from around twenty swimmers to a hundred. Now we are nearly 250. In 2017, a new management team arrived with me as vice-president, and we recruited more specialized and multi-skilled staff, including swimmers capable of managing events. To further develop, we would need more pool slots.”
What is your budget?
“We have an operating budget of around €100k to €110k per year, including €25k from town hall and regional council subsidies.
We organize paid summer or winter camps to increase our budget, as well as an average membership fee of €289 per member. We also generate revenue through boutique sales and events. Unfortunately, we do not have any partners, which is an area we should develop in the future.”
How do you judge the past year?
“The year was poor; we couldn’t train, we suffered financial losses, lost members, and among the remaining 150, about thirty didn’t pay the remaining membership fees.”
Your goals for the next season?
“Next season, we will focus on the same goals, namely the French championships for artistic swimming, winning the French D3 championship, and our mission remains the same: to train young people, give them the fundamentals of swimming, and help them become comfortable in the maritime pool.”
Can you expand on the artistic swimming section?
“We launched our artistic swimming section in 2012, and today we have between 20 and 30 swimmers. It’s very complex to organize, and we are not sure about maintaining this section in the future. We have a swimmer who finished 2nd in the high-level ranking of the French championship this year, and one of our duos finished 8th in the classic ranking.”
What are the club’s values?
“Our values? We place a strong emphasis on solidarity, which is fundamental in the associative environment, sharing, kindness, and obviously, high standards.”
