www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk IN BRIEF
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STA SURVEY SHOWS WHAT SKILLS SWIM TEACHERS NEED An independent survey of leisure centre managers, pool managers and swimming development officers, employed at 397 pools across the UK, has produced results to identify the skills they require their swimming teachers to have. The research was
commissioned by STA to find out what skills leisure operators need swimming teachers to train for to meet customer requirements. Roger Millward, STA Chief Executive, said: “With today’s private and public facilities operating a comprehensive range of learn to swim and aquatic swimming programmes for babies through to adults, STA wanted to establish what percentage of swimming teachers employed needed to have all of the skills required to deliver these programmes.” Reporting on 2,980 swimming teachers, the research confirmed in order of importance the skills required are: • 77.8% for new swimmers and beginners • 75% for improvers • 59% for adults
• 47% lifesaving qualification • 45% babies and pre school See
www.sta.co.uk for more information.
£19.5M CONTRACT Willmott Dixon has signed a £19.5m contract with St Albans City and District Council to redevelop Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, with construction work scheduled to start soon and to proceed until
November 2012. Taking place in three stages, this project will see the company build several swimming pools and a number of other facilities.
IndustryNews APR 2011 SPN
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PLASTICA COMPLETE LINER POOL TRANSFORMATION
Plastica recently completed a stunning new pool using their Extreme Pool Lining system. The pool was originally tiled over 30 years ago and was in need of a bit of tender, love and care. Working in conjunction with swimming pool specialists Mermaid Ltd of Hawkhurst who carried out all the necessary preparation work needed prior to the lining being fitted, Plastica’s site lining team were called in to install their 1.5mm thick reinforced commercial lining system.
The installation took five days in total to complete, and with no curing or drying time to wait for the hose went in on the last day to leave the pool filling. The customer was delighted that their pool had been transformed in such a short time.
Plastica are the UK`s leading independent manufacturer and wholesaler of swimming pool equipment.
i FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
F PLASTICA ( 01424 857857 :
www.plasticapools.net
PORTSMOUTH POOL SHOWS FOLLY OF IGNORING EN BS15288!
The new £5m ‘Olympic-size’ swimming pool at Mountbatten Leisure Centre in Portsmouth has been built 50mm too short for international competition.
Although the pool dimension is 50 metres long it does not allow for the thickness of the touch pads that have to be fitted and will then reduce the overall length by 50 mm. The Liberal Democrat council in charge of the project denied they have blundered in the construction of the pool but opponents say the decision could cost the city millions as it had been earmarked as a training venue for London 2012 athletes. A Tory councillor Jim Fleming added: “It’s a mistake. It’s not long enough to meet Olympic standards. But now we’re being told the pool is two inches too short and as a result the city will lose millions
of pounds of revenue along with cash grants.”
Said pool consultant Allen Wilson: “If however the pool designers and builders had followed the European guidance, EN BS15288, the new European standards for swimming pool design, it is unlikely that this would have happened. These standards advocate there should have been a competent pool person on the design committee. That could have been me and I certainly would have spotted this.”
The centre is operated by Parkwood Leisure, which describes the £5m pool as ‘Olympic-sized’ and ‘Olympic-standard’.
This fault is certainly not unique. In Farnham the same thing occurred less than a year ago where the local council were forced to pay to extend the swimming pool at Farnham Leisure Centre by 40mm. Following a request from the ASA to use the pool for swimming galas it was discovered that it was 40mm short of the standard 25metre length. The six-lane pool at the Farnham centre had always been regarded as a 25metre facility ever since it was built. A spokesman said when it was built in 1981, designers
did not account for the touch pad mechanism to be attached to each end of the lanes to time the speed of swimmers.
And it’s not just the UK! An Austrian swimmer has been stripped of a European record for the 200 metre breast-stroke because the Rannersdorf swimming pool in Schwechat, Austria
was 40mm too short.
Hundreds of events have been staged at the pool and Austrian officials have admitted now that it had obviously never been measured during that time. The mistake was discovered when 22-year-old Mirna Jukic from Vienna finished the race in 2:23,90 in 2008 and was instantly hailed as the new European record holder.
It put her as the third fastest in the world and broke an eight-year- old European record. But the all night celebrations ended when record officials who measured the pool revealed: “It is 4cm too short.” “There is no requirement to measure the pool for Austrian records, but for a European record it is compulsory, that’s how the mistake was found.”
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