Pool & Spa Scene: NEWS
From Zero To Hero For Closure-Threatened Pool
Once earmarked for closure by the local authority, prospects for the former Burnham Pool could not be brighter earning it the 2012 title of ASA UK Swim School of The Year. Former professional triathlete and national biathlon and modern pentathlon champion, Sara Cox Conklin and husband Mark Conklin, saved the 30 year old pool from closure in 2008, re-launching the venue as the Burnham-on-Sea Swim & Sport Academy. The fi rst year of Swim Academy saw 350 children take lessons each week. At the start of its fourth year, the venue now boasts 967 students on the books and expects to hit their target of 1000 swimmers imminently. The Swim Academy also teaches 1,200 school children each year who attends blocks of 10 week lessons.
In 2009, The Academy launched and hosted the Sedgemoor Schools Swimming Gala. Additional pool based classes include parent and babies (Swim a Song) through to Stroke
Technique for Adults, a Master’s Program and 50plus lessons.
The Academy also runs a very successful
Triathlon Academy (over 100 children) and ASA Rookie Lifeguard program and in 2011, the couple built and launched the Academy Health Club, a new, large extension boasting a cardio studio and gym to run alongside its water-based activities.
Burnham-on-Sea Swim & Sports Academy Tel. +44 (0)1278 785909
www.bospool.com
…news in brief…
HOPE FOR ART DECO POOL A decaying art deco swimming pool complex near
MacDuff in Aberdeenshire, granted Category-A listed status because of its outstanding architectural and historic importance, looks set to get a £1million grant saving it from total destruction while its long term future is secured. One of three remaining outdoor swimming pools in Scotland, the large Tarlair outdoor swimming pool, boating pond and art deco tea pavilion fi rst opened in 1931 and attracted thousands of visitors every year before it closed in 1995.
DOG DROWNINGS Vets in Australia have expressed concern after a
reported spike in the number of dogs drowning in backyard swimming pools.
While no exact statistics are available, up to
100 dogs a year are suspected to fall victims to swimming pool drowning, many as a result of hazards from unsecured covers.
SHEFFIELD WIELD KNIFE Timetables at the Heeley Baths and Graves Tennis
and Leisure Centre swimming pools in Sheffi eld are being reviewed to refl ect big cuts in council funding.
ABOVE: Once threatened with closure, Burnham swimming pool has been transformed into a viable water leisure business.
Vita Dealers Gather In Midlands
The new UK Pool & Spa Expo, at the NEC, offered the perfect opportunity for Vita Spas UK to hold a dealer meeting followed by a networking meal in the Woodside Spa Hotel in Kenilworth.
Vita Spas prides itself on a different way of working with dealerships and no dealership is too small to voice their opinion. With this in mind the meeting raised some interesting points which allowed all attendance to add to what was a very productive event. Vita Spa UK’s Richard Hart said: “I truly
believe we have a refreshing approach to our dealers. We hear all the time from dealers that their distributor has let them down in one way or another and that they are never listened too. “I’ve never heard it from our dealers. We sit down at our seminars and meetings and allow the audience to set parts of the agenda; we don’t dictate to them.” Vita Spas Tel. +44 (0)1245 477 400
richard@aquawarehouse.co.uk www.aquawarehouse.co.uk
Some public swimming sessions could be cut as managers examine ways of making savings and generating extra income. The main casualty will be Stocksbridge Leisure Centre if a growing campaign to save it is unsuccessful.
HIGHEST INDOOR POOL Since it was completed in March 2011, the Ritz
Carlton Hotel at the top of the international Commerce Centre, Hong Kong, boasts what it believes to be the highest indoor pool in the world at a whopping 1,600ft above ground. To balance out the heights, the ceiling above the pool is a video wall showing coral reef scenes to enthusiasts of the back stroke.
MANCHESTER POOL PROTEST About 500 people joined a protest against plans
to close a swimming pool in south Manchester. Withington Leisure Centre is set to close along with pools in Miles Platting, Broadway and Levenshulme. Chorlton Leisure Centre is also earmarked for closure in 2015 as part of Manchester City Council’s plans to save £80m from its budget.
EZE DOES IT Topline Electronics of Hailsham East Sussex
have been appointed as a distribution partner for Siemens plc with specifi c responsibility for Siemens Water Technologies top-selling pool controller, the Ezetrol Plus.
Their role is to stock and supply the unit, and ABOVE: Vita Spas dealers took the opportunity of the new UK Pool & Spa Expo to meet at the NEC.
spares, to the wider swimming pool market for Siemens.
Pool & Spa Scene: NEWS 11
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