Natalie Clothier started printing swim caps back in 1996. Living in South Africa she printed a personalised swim cap for her sister who was then a provincial swimmer. Her sister was delighted with the cap and her local school requested a batch for their swim team. Natalie printed green latex caps for her sister’s school and it was not long before she was asked by another school to do the same. A year down the line and she was supplying most of Kwa Zulu Natal schools with latex caps.
Over the coming years Natalie travelled abroad to Malaysia, the UK and China to source her own line of swim caps and silicone inks. Swimmers demanded a silicone cap that was highly elastic, strong and comfortable.
In 2000 Pacer Swimwear was born, the company grew to be the biggest swim cap printing company in Africa. Natalie supplied and printed for big brands such as Speedo, TYR, Arena, Spurt. Container loads of swim caps were imported into Africa and her range branched out into selling goggles and other swimming accessories. Due to concerns of South Africa being economically and politically unstable, Pacer Swimwear was sold and Natalie emigrated to the UK with her husband and young children and it was here that Podium Swimwear was born.
Podium Swimwear opened its doors in Bury Farm in Curbridge in 2018, soon after opening it had to move due to estate planning permission granted on the Farm. A short lease was taken at Seddul Bahr Industrial Estate before Podium moved again to Moon River Pines in Fair Oak. Now settled, the 2019 Covid pandemic brought the company to an almost grinding halt for a year or two. As swimmers returned to the pool so did the business come back, and the company has steadily continued to grow.
