By Carlena Knight
National swim coach, Wayne Mitchell, is just the latest member from the swimming fraternity in Antigua and Barbuda that has spoken out about the necessity of having an Olympic-sized pool.
For years, a number of announcements and empty promises have been made regarding the construction of a pool for the sport.
Just a few months ago, UPP candidate, Franz DeFreitas, revealed that the erection of two indoor multi-sport facilities including swimming were just several of the proposed plans he has for the St John’s City South constituency.
And while those would be welcomed plans for athletes across the island, Coach Mitchell is adamant that a quicker short-term plan is needed at this time while the local swimming association makes moves of their own to acquire a pool.
He says the best route at this time is to propose a new plan to CWI for the Antigua Athletic Club’s pool. A pool which still remains unused months later.
“I just feel like if somebody is able to discuss this, that they can come to some sort of short-term arrangement where the clubs can go ahead and build themselves up again. Even if it is just for three years. Give us three years with the pool, let us build our clubs up, let us gain some revenue, let us get new kids in the sport, let’s build up some capital, and let’s go to the bank and whoever else through sponsorships. Give us three years to raise these funds, but we need a pool to do it.
“If we had it for three years then I honestly believe that the clubs and the Federation could work together to get a pool built, but we just need a pool right now. It’s already there. Only thing needs to be done is just fill it with water, turn on the pumps and that’s it,” Mitchell said.
In September last year, CEO of Cricket West Indies, Johnny Grave, said an agreement between CWI and the Antigua and Barbuda Swimming Federation (ABSF) that would have allowed the latter to utilise the pool had been delayed due to a leak.
Grave added that both bodies were still in negotiations at the time as to how the facility would be utilised. He said that this temporary fix will go a long way in the development of the sport.
The use of the pool would have been a temporary solution as the ABSF pushed towards creating a permanent home.
Despite that information, Mitchell mentioned that he cannot understand why after all this time the pool is still not in use, and no work is being done on it.
He said the use of this pool is paramount especially at this time as all of the clubs are using one pool.
“I haven’t been privy to the negotiations, but honestly, on a personal note, I don’t see why it’s not full of water right now, and why we don’t have our kids swimming in there. I still see nobody around, I still see it unused and to me, that’s unnecessary. It is affecting to us tremendously. We are going, but we still could be doing so much better.
“We don’t have the amount of pool space to accommodate all the children at the one pool we are using now and it really upsets me.”
The use of the Antigua Athletic Club may be more of an uphill climb for the sporting body as CWI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Johnny Grave had revealed earlier this year that the chances of the Antigua and Barbuda Swimming Federation (ABSF) regaining access were quite slim.
This, he explained was due to the fact that structural damage to the pool may be more significant than previously thought, as the complex was built on raised land, meaning, “the pool could potentially be always sinking as it’s not built into the land.”
Grave said that CWI is awaiting reports from a number of engineers and architects on the way forward, and they have asked the swimming federation to allow for that process to be completed before any agreement could be reached as to whether not it would be viable to conduct repairs.