The Champions' Honour Board recorded the names of the champions of the Canberra Amateur Swimming Club for each season, starting with the first full season of 1931-32.

It hung in the pool's entrance foyer for over 10 years until it was moved to the Canberra Olympic Pool, opened in 1956 in Civic. Unfortunately, it has disappeared in the years since.

The board was installed at The Swimming Pool (as it was then known) on February 15, 1945. Spectators at the weekly swimming club carnival watched respectfully as the Minister for the Interior and club patron, Senator Joseph Collings, unveiled the new board. With World War II into its seventh year, the Minister paid tribute to three champions whose names were inscribed on the board and who ''paid the supreme sacrifice''.

The first men's club champion in 1931-32 was Tim Ingram. Tim and his father, Adam, had tiled the pool during its construction.

Tim was champion again in 1939-40. Sadly, his younger brother Ian, also a club member, was killed during the war.

The three members to whom the Minister paid tribute were, between them, the men's champions over four seasons during the 1930s.

Bill Dullard was champion for the 1934-35 season. He enlisted in the army in 1941 and was killed in action on September 24, 1942 on the Kokoda Track, aged 25.

Bill often competed against his friend and rival Lindsay Knowles, with crowds of more than 500 people attending the weekly carnivals just to watch them race. Who would win this week, Bill or Lindsay?

Lindsay Knowles followed Bill as the champion for the 1935-36 season. He joined the RAAF in 1939 and was killed in aerial combat over North Africa on November 22, 1941, aged 24. He is buried near Tobruk, Libya.

Mick Clemens was club champion for two consecutive years, 1937-38 and 1938-39. Enlisting in the army in 1940, Mick was killed in action on January 15, 1942 in Malaya.

Lindsay's younger brother, Merv Knowles, continued the family tradition by winning the championship for two seasons, 1940-41 and 1941-42. Merv, now aged in his 90s, still swims at the pool.

Morrie Adamson, junior men's champion in 1941-42, was the next men's champion for two consecutive seasons, 1942-43 and 1943-44. Clyde Denton, junior men's champion in 1944-45, held the title of men's champion for an amazing five seasons, in 1945-46 and for four consecutive seasons from 1947-48 to 1950-51.

The first women's club champion was Faith Tillyard in 1931-32. Her sister, Honor, was also champion for three seasons, winning the title for two consecutive years in 1934-35 and 1935-36, and again in 1938-39.

Del Calthorpe was the women's champion in 1933-34. The name may sound familiar; today's Calthorpe's House in Red Hill was her family home.

Joan Morcombe, aged 14, was both the junior women's and the women's champion for the 1939-40 season, the first woman to hold both titles in the same season. She was the junior women's champion for three consecutive seasons, 1938-39 to 1940-41.

Just two women held the title of women's champion for six consecutive seasons between them. Beverley Green, aged about 15, was both the junior women's and women's champion for 1949-50, and retained her title as women's champion for the next two years, 1950-51 and 1951-52.

Beverley's successor, Brenda Stephenson, was the women's champion for the next three seasons, from 1952-53 to 1954-55. She was still a junior for the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons, and the junior women's champion for 1953-54, aged about 15.

If there was one Canberra family that lived and breathed swimming, it was the Brophys, who had 10 children.

Marie Brophy was the women's champion for an astonishing five consecutive seasons, 1940-1941 to 1944-45, the first club member to achieve such a feat. Peggy Brophy was women's champion for two seasons, 1946-47 and 1947-48. She was also the diving champion for seven consecutive seasons, first as junior women's champion starting in 1942-43, followed by women's champion for four seasons, ending in 1948-49. Sisters Betty and Dorothy were the junior women's champion for two seasons each.

Among the Brophy boys Richard Brophy was the men's diving champion for two years, 1947-48 and 1948-49. Brother Bill was the men's champion for five consecutive seasons; three seasons from 1952-53 to the last season at Manuka pool in 1954-55, and the first two seasons at the Olympic Pool, 1955-56 and 1956-57. He was the first man to win five consecutive seasons, echoing his sister Marie's achievement.

The Champions' Honour Board is more than a list of names of people who won swimming races many years ago. Behind each of these names there lies a story, and collectively they provide a link to the very early days of Canberra as a growing community, to a time when the pool became the focus of summer life in Canberra.

The pool was the place where families gathered, friends mingled and lifelong friendships and relationships were formed. The weekly night carnivals were not just swimming club races, they were community social events. It's doubtful whether any other institution in early Canberra had quite the same impact on its residents.

Perhaps the board is lurking in some forgotten store room or maybe hidden at the back of someone's shed?

Manuka Pool turns 90 in January 2021. Finding the lost Champions' Honour Board would be a fitting birthday present for Canberra's well-loved heritage building.