Gisborne Swimmers Get Your Togs Ready

Council will reopen the doors to the 33m outdoor pool at the Olympic Pool complex on Tuesday, 2 June.

“The decision to open has not been an easy one. Our 50m pool has a leak that we will be unable to fix until summer, so we’ll be diverting water we usually use to heat the 50m pool to reopen the 33m outdoor pool over winter,” said Andrew White, Council’s Director of Liveable Communities

“It’s been a frustrating period, especially if you’ve been wanting to swim laps.”

He said the 50m pool leaked significantly during lock down, so Council had decided to keep it closed.

This week, as a temporary measure to get swimmers back in the water, Council staff are reconfiguring the heat exchange to warm the outdoor pool so it is swimmable.

“After discussions with Comet Swimming Club we believe this is the best alternative available,” Mr White said.

“It’s not the most ideal situation, but the swimmers are keen to get back into training and we’re looking forward to making a pool available. This will give the squads, lap swimmers and recreational swimmers access to a pool over winter.”

Staff and local contractors have worked on a temporary fix for the leaks in the 50m pool since March, but the work has had only limited success.

“We’re dealing with an old pool, requiring a proper reline, but we are making the best of the situation in the interim,” Mr White said.

“Our current plan is to reline the 50m pool in October when the temperature is warmer, but this is also dependent on whether we are successful with our shortlisted Crown Infrastructure Partner’s application for the Olympic Pool Complex redevelopment.”

Under Alert Level 2 in-pool numbers will be limited to a maximum of 50.

“Spectators are not encouraged, and to enable contact tracing and physical distancing, swimmers will need to book a lane as they enter the complex,” Mr White said.

“Or better still, call and book in advance.”

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