Club Natación y Gimnasia

Natación y Gimnasia
Full name Club Natación y Gimnasia
Union Unión de Rugby de Tucumán
Nickname(s) Blancos
Founded 21 February 1930
Location San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Province, Argentina
Ground(s) Gabriel Palou
President Rodolfo Bernardinez
League(s) Torneo del Noroeste
2011 12th
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.blankos.com.ar

Club Natación y Gimnasia, or simply Natación, is a rugby union and field hockey club from San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. Founded in 1930 as a multi-sports club, Natación is registered with the Unión de Rugby de Tucumán.[1] Despite its name, swimming and gymnastics are no longer practiced at the club.

One of the most successful rugby clubs in Tucumán, Natación won the Torneo del Noroeste 7 times.

History

Club Natación y Gimnasia was founded in San Miguel de Tucumán on 21 February 1930, as a multi-sports club. A large variety of activities were practiced at the club, including equestrianism, fencing, athletics, tennis and of course swimming and gymnastics. The rugby union section, for which the club is most famous today, started in 1941.

By the 1940s the club had become one of the best multi-sports club in the country. Following a controversial political decision, the club was absorbed by the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán in 1945. The club would try and fight the decision, to no avail.

Members of the rugby section, unhappy with the decision, decided not to join UNT and created a new club, using the old Natación y Gimnasia name.

Rugby

Playing the game since 1936, Natación y Gimnasia's rugby union section was officially founded in 1941 thus becoming the first rugby club in the province. Along with Tucumán Rugby Club, Universitario and Cardenales, Natación became one of the four founding clubs of the Unión de Rugby de Tucumán.

Following the club's takeover by the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, members of the rugby section decided to keep the old institution alive and re-founded Club Natación y Gimnasia in 1945 as a rugby union club only.

As most installations of the old club had also been taken over by UNT, the new club had to find somewhere to play. The club used the fields originally used by the equestrianism section of Natación, until the club acquired their own installations (following another political decision) in 1988.

Today the club is one of the best rugby clubs in the province, having won the provincial title 7 times.

Field hockey

In 2012 started the construction of a field hockey stadium to host the 2012–14 Women's FIH Hockey World League Final between November and December 2013. With a budget of 20 million Argentine pesos, this stadium has over 1,450 seats which added to the mobile grandstands that can be erected make a total capacity of over 6,400.

Titles

Rugby union

1947, 1949, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1995, 1996

References

  1. "Club History" (in Spanish). 21 May 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.

External links