SWIMMERS and sports clubs in Whakatane are hoping a solution will be found before next winter to a drastic shortage of lane space at the Whakatane Aquatic Centre.
Whakatane Swimming Club has ballooned from 60 members last year to 106 this year, but its lane space is almost the same, and its coach has had to cap the number of new swimmers joining. The club’s youngest members will have to swim up to 14 to a lane for their sessions.
Whakatane Surf Lifesaving Club has also had to cap the number of athletes it trains at the pool because of space issues, while the head of Trident High School’s underwater hockey programme, which has produced world champions, says it is a “no brainer that the town needs more pool space”.
Over winter, the outdoor pool closes, meaning the indoor pool is shared by the swimming club, the Whakatane District Council’s Learn to Swim school, the public, the Surf Lifesaving Club, the triathlon and multisport Club, programmes such as SportBop GRX and school sport groups, including underwater hockey teams, as well as aqua-aerobics groups.
Clubs and teams want the outdoor pool to remain open over winter, but this will require it to be covered.
“Our results are the best across all ages,” swimming club committee chairwoman Rawinia Kamau said. In February the club placed fifth overall against 25 other clubs at the Aquaknights Zonals Championships, the toughest meet on their calendar. Its swimmers won 18 medals, while an age group record for the Bay of Plenty was broken.
Photo Kathy Forsyth D6926-18
But to get results the swimmers have to put in the hours in the pool. The club has made a submission to the council’s long term plan asking that a solution be found to the battle over lane space.
“The club employed a full-time coach in 2016 and since then, we have seen an increase in membership across all age groups and levels. We have also seen a remarkable improvement of performance at a competitive level,” the submission reads.
“Unfortunately, we go into another winter season with the outdoor pool closing and a considerable reduction in lane space allocated to the swim club.
“The reduction in lane space will limit our swimmers’ ability to achieve their potential.”
The club believes a solution can be found by opening the outdoor pool year-round and has asked for this to be included in the council’s long-term plan.
Surf lifesaving club captain and coach Craig Julian would also like the council to consider options to make the outdoor pool available all year.
“We are currently booked with 30 athletes in three lanes. We have another additional 10 athletes wanting to join our squad this winter. Sadly, because of lane restrictions, this is not possible.”
He said club’s junior and masters teams placed third in the recent national championships, and it was building lifeguard numbers as well as a strong surf lifesaving pool championships squad. The club’s athletes needed access to pool as well as surf training.
“It’s not possible to achieve our goals with access to one pool.”
The head of Trident High School’s underwater hockey programme, Jeff Lee, said the underwater hockey team appreciated the space and support given by the pool staff for the team to train and he understood that changes to the outdoor pool would not be cheap.
“I still feel the benefit to the community easily justifies the cost.
“Our programme has produced a national secondary schools championship team as well as three of our Trident players are current U19 women’s underwater hockey world champions.
“The time they spent training in our town’s pool is a big part of these successes.”
Open water competitor Anne Bulley said it was fantastic to have the aquatic centre, and that it was so well used.
“But it is time serious consideration was given to making better use of the outdoor pool to enable everyone to be able to use the facility comfortably and safely,” she said.
Mike Bodger, also an open water and masters competitor, said when the indoor pool was closed a few years ago for repairs the outdoor pool was open, heated and partly-covered, and run successfully. It could be done again.
The council said the aquatic centre management was aware of issues relating to lane space availability.
However, the council and pool management could not comment until after the swimming club’s submission had been heard and any resulting action considered and decided by councillors.