50-metre pool to be ready by next year

After years of debate and disagreement with various sports ministers, it was announced yesterday that Ireland's first 50-metre pool will be located close to the National Coaching and Training Centre (NCTC) on the University of Limerick campus.

The pool will form part of the University of Limerick's multipurpose sports building, which is currently under construction. It is hoped that the facility will be ready by the end of 2000.

The decision ends years of squabbling between government and swimmers over the location and funding of the pool.

Ireland is one of the few developed countries which has never had a 50-metre facility, making it difficult for international-standard swimmers to train properly without travelling abroad.

The Government is providing a capital grant of £5.95 million for the project and an operating subsidy of £190,000 a year for a maximum of 20 years.

The balance of the cost, which is estimated to be about £20 million, will be contributed by the University of Limerick arising from its own fund-raising efforts.

"I am very pleased, as Sports Minister, to be able to preside over the successful conclusion of a very long search for this facility, a search which has been on the agenda of successive governments for over a decade," said the Minister for Tourism and Sport, Dr McDaid, yesterday.

The pool will have 10 lanes and is 25 metres wide, which is one and a half times the normal width, thus providing space for warm-up areas along the sides in the event of competition.

The design will be similar to the facility at the US Olympic Centre in Colorado Springs.

It is envisaged that the centre will work closely with Swim Ireland, the new national governing body, to provide top swimmers with not only top-class training facilities but also access to sports science, medical and other supports at the one location.

Clearly the announcement arrives too late to be of use to swimmers in the current Olympic cycle for the Sydney Games next year. However, by the time the next cycle begins for the Athens Olympics in 2004, Ireland should have a top-class training and preparation centre.

Another significant feature of the pool is that it will have a moveable floor which allows the base to be raised for recreational swimming and for use by swimmers with a disability.

Prof Noel Whelan, vice-president of the university, said the pool and facilities would "play a pivotal role in ensuring that Ireland's elite athletes enjoy world-class coaching and training facilities".

He said they had the benefit of leading specialist consultants from North America to collaborate with an Irish design team "and the resultant proposal involves an innovative design concept which will minimise the capital costs and provide for a cost-efficient operating system".

Prof Whelan said that the university devised an integrated sports facilities development plan in 1994 to reflect the multi-faceted sports mission. He said that this plan by the university was now ready for serious "take-off".