The predecesor to SAAA, the Tucson Association of Aquatic Clubs, was formed in 1960 and consisted of 12 teams and 600 swimmers. In 1967, the Southern Arizona Aquatic Association was established and remains a non-profit corporation to promote aquatic training and competition in Southern Arizona. At one point, SAAA was the largest swim organization in the state, with over 3500 swimmers on 33 different teams.

A steady decline in the number of available community pools over the last two decades has reduced the number of teams in the league, but the number of participating swimmers has stayed strong. Today, SAAA still has over a dozen teams and about 1500 registered swimmers.