Swimmers Dive Back into National Swimming Pool

Thu, Dec 29th 2011, 08:59 AM

The wait to dive into the 50 meter national swimming facility is now over for local swimmers. The doors to the Betty Kelly Kenning Aquatic Centre were officially opened to the Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) and the hundreds of swimmers on Tuesday.  Over the next two weeks, the aquatic center will be the home for four United States based colleges. But before the international swimmers could test the waters, Bahamians got to splash around first. The annual Time Trials, currently going on at the facility, will bring the BSF 2011 season to close. In an ironic twist, it will also jump start the busy 2012 season.

This is the first time, since the pool was officially closed in July, that the BSF was granted access. Many in the federation are happy that the wait is over, so the swimmers can get back into the grove of things. The facility is shared by many of the locally based clubs, and starting today members of the Fairleigh Dickinson University (Devils) will get to enjoy the recently renovated 50m pool. The team is scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. with training sessions starting at 2 p.m. today. The Devils will train twice a day, at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. and leave on January 4. The school is located in Madison, New Jersey. So far they have competed in 11 swim meets in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

On January 3, St. Catherine's College will arrive in New Providence and start their two-day training session on January 4. They will use the facilities until January 10. St. Mary's College will also have their training session January 4-11. The University of Massachusetts are due in January 6-13.

Work on the facility will continue over the next few weeks, despite it being opened. Just yesterday, electricians were repairing the heating system. It was confirmed, through the BSF, that the filtration system is repaired and that the heating system would have been up and running before the start of the BSF's Time Trial swim meet. The executive said more work is needed, but that won't take place until the new equipment arrives. However, the federation was promised that the timing pad, lane ropes, the recalibration of the system pipes and new infinity start system will be in place before the CARIFTA Swimming Championships. According to the source, once these gadgets are installed meets hosted at the event will run more smoothly and at a high international level. It was revealed that official work to the facility did not start until November. The facility has been closed for more than two months for repairs.

Water from both pools was drained about two weeks ago so they can be cleaned properly. It was said that algae started to grow in the walls, so the draining was necessary in order to have it acid washed and to get rid of the problem. About one million galloons of water are in the pool. The aquatic center houses seven pumps.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads