Club HIstory

The club is believed to be founded in 1927 and named after the Northsea Arms, a pub that has since closed, in Stamshaw. A 1933 article in the Portsmouth Evening News, however, traces the club's inception as far back as the summer of 1911, when the Stamshaw Swimming Pond first opened. In 1919, Superintendent George Byng called a meeting of his supporters to form a swimming club and resume aquatic activities, which had been on hiatus during World War I.Not wanting to call the club "Stamshaw", the committee eventually settled on the name Northsea Swimming Club rather than "Southsea", because of its location in the northern part of town.

The Northsea Swimming Club subsequently formed a water polo team, which won a local competition in 1926. In 1927, Edwin A. Palmer became chairman of the club, with C. H. Webb as Honorary Secretary. In the first year under Palmer's leadership, club membership was expanded from 14 to 150, and by 1933, it had 516 members. At that time, the Northsea Swimming Club had one of the strongest junior sections in the county, and was known for its annual open water swimming race to the Isle of Wight.

Notable past coaches at Portsmouth Northsea SC have included international coach Chris Nesbit, who served as Head Coach for PNSC from 1980 to 2005. In 2009, PNSC moved from its home at the Victoria Swimming Baths to the new Mountbatten Leisure Centre, with a modern, 8-lane 50-metre Olympic swimming pool.