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It’s been 35 years since Joe Shank and Jim and Linda Theiring opened an athletic club on Camden Avenue near Almaden Valley. The club, the first in the nation to allow men and women to exercise together, started with 550 memberships. Today’s memberships total 2,900, or about 5,000 individuals.

The Theirings moved here from Oregon in 1974, and Shank brought his family from New Jersey in the early 1970s. Both men worked as swim coaches at a club in Palo Alto. In 1974, the Theirings bought a walnut grove on Camden Avenue, and Shank helped raise $1.2 million to build their club on the property. AVAC opened two years later with a 75-foot heated pool, tennis courts, group fitness and indoor raquetball courts.

Gradually, the raquetball courts gave way to more popular fitness machines as well as equipment for strength and resistance training. The club offers exercise classes from aerobics to yoga and Pilates as well as Zumba. In September 2004, AVAC added an indoor pool with a retractable roof for children’s swim lessons. The 75-foot heated outdoor pool is used for masters and lap swimming, water aerobics and recreational swimming for adults and families.

“Our swim school teaches more than 16,000 kids a year, more than 4,000 per season,” says Shank, who bought the Theirings out when they retired in 2004. “We focus on noncompetitive swimming. We don’t run a team, but we do have a good relationship with local clubs,” Shank says.

“We’ve been profitable every year since 1976, and we continue to be despite the economic downturn,” Shank says proudly. “We turn those profits back into the club, whether it’s for redecorating, resurfacing the 11 tennis courts, remodeling or adding exercise equipment and classes to our inventory. And we’ve managed to increase our membership despite the economy. We’ve seen a definite growth this year,” he adds.

The club also reinvests in its employees, says Shank. It sends employees annually to the International Health and Racket Sports Association conference, where employees of 5,000 health clubs throughout the world learn about new equipment and how to use it, as well as new athletic dances and exercises.

The club employs roughly 140 during the fall, winter and spring, rising to 180 during the summer. Some are full time and others are part time, including a number of students from Santa Clara University, San Jose State University, UC-Santa Cruz and the local community colleges.

Unfortunately, pouring money into expansion isn’t possible, says Shank, even though the club would like to add a restaurant. But there is a snack bar and cafe. “We’ve maxed out the space we have; space is our biggest problem,” Shank says.

The outdoor pool is complemented by a Jacuzzi and a wading pool There are also hot tubs in the locker rooms, as well as steam showers and steam rooms. There are 11 lighted tennis courts, which hosted the US Tennis Association national championships from 1985 through 2000.

But it’s not all fun and games. Through the years, the club has raised money for a number of charities including Special Olympics, Twin Towers Orphan Fund, Hospice of the Valley, the American Heart Association, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank, Turning Wheels for Kids, the Southeast Asian tsunami, the Pat Tillman Foundation and some local schools. It also opened its doors for employees and members to donate to the Stanford Bloodmobile and to the American Red Cross for relief for victims of the Haitian earthquakes.

When AVAC opened, there were no family exercise clubs in the area. This brought members from all over the Bay Area, says Shank, from Morgan Hill to north of Palo Alto and from Santa Cruz to Saratoga, Willow Glen, Campbell, Cambrian, Almaden and the Rose Garden areas. It also brought people from all over America to see a family club, he says.

That innovative action has kept the club at the top of its game throughout its 35 years. “We keep our ears open all the time for questions and suggestions. We were one of the first clubs to add spinning and Zumba. We want to be on the cutting edge of equipment and fitness,” he adds.

In addition to more than 80 various exercise classes, AVAC offers small group training, wellness, weight management and personal training. It provides a full program for children and teens including the swim school, fitness classes, family hip hop, family Zumba, KisDanceFuze , junior tennis and tennis lessons. Child care is available.

Summers include day camp for ages 6-12 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The days include tennis, swimming, arts and crafts, group fitness, junior boot camp and lunch.

The 11 tennis courts are lit, and there is a schedule for masters, lap swim and water workouts. There are a number of senior programs that include European trips, group fitness, a wellness program, lectures and game days. Massage and massage therapy are available as well as the spas, wine tasting, holiday dinners, luncheons, bridge and game days. AVACs membership in International Health and Racket Sports Association allows access to more than 3,000 clubs in 50 countries.

Memberships come in various sizes and packages and can be customized to fit individual or family needs.

AVAC is located at 5400 Camden Ave. For more information, call 408.445.4900 or visit www.acac.us.

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