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Young swimmers are feeling the strain as they head off to swimming pools outside Warkworth to train while the 25 metre Mahurangi College pool is out of action.
Remarkably, some Kowhai Swimming Club members managed impressive result in the National Division II Swimming Competition held in Dunedin last month, after training for just two hours a week instead of their usual six (see results p52).
This was despite having to travel to the Stanmore Bay Pool and Leisure Centre after school, getting into the pool after 7pm for over an hour and then having to return north again.
“It has been very difficult,” Kowhai Swimming Club spokesperson Carol Christy said, but she acknowledged the delays have largely been outside the college’s control.
Mahurangi College principal Tony Giles agrees the delays to the pool reopening have been frustrating for other school users and parents, including the underwater hockey players, who are also travelling to the North Shore to train.
Problems started back in March when upgrades to the changing rooms exposed some nail plates used in the original construction had rusted, Giles said. This meant the upgrade work became more extensive than originally planned.
The plates needed to be replaced so the pool would meet code requirements, he said. This also meant the pool had to be drained for the repairs to take place.
But funding the repairs was not straightforward.
While the school owns the pool, the Ministry of Education owns the changing rooms and roof.
“With the repairs needing funding, the upgrade to the changing rooms may be slightly reduced now or delayed,” Giles says.
Even so, keen swimmers will be able to train locally again relatively soon.
“The pool repair process is underway and should be finished by the end of term.”
