Club Natación y Gimnasia

Club Natación y Gimnasia

Full name	Club Natación y Gimnasia
Union	Unión Argentina de Rugby
Founded	1930
Location	San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
Ground(s)	Gabriel Palou
President	Rodolfo Bernardinez
League(s)	Nacional, Noroeste
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 best 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 sports 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. A field hockey section would be added in the 1980s.

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.

Honours

• Torneo del Noroeste
  • Winners (7): 1947, 1949, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1995, 1996

External links

• Official website (Spanish)

References

1. ^ "Club History" (in Spanish). 21 May 2010. http://www.urtuc.com.ar/natacion.html. Retrieved 22 May 2010.