Fredericton swimming group rallies, continues name for brand spanking new pool

Hundreds of Fredericton swimmers packed into Picaroons Brewing Company on Wednesday night to proceed a longtime push for the town to construct a brand new pool.

Swim golf equipment within the metropolis have come to depend on the prevailing Sir Max Aitken Pool on the University of New Brunswick. What was meant to be a short lived answer has gone on for years, with pricey repairs looming.

“Dungeon-y,” “disgusting,” and “not up to date” had been how swimmers Ally Steeves, 15, Anna Thornton, 14, and Charlotte Naugler, 17, described the UNB pool.

All three are creative swimmers, a sport Thornton described as a mix of gymnastics, dancing and swimming.

Steeves, who competed on the Canada Games final summer season in St. John’s, mentioned the pool shouldn’t be large enough and has such restricted seating that her crew can’t host competitions. 

“The pool set-up is not great for artistic swimming, but just not having enough pool time really hinders our practice time,” she mentioned.

“We just really need a pool.”

Nathan White, president of the Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team, mentioned the necessity for a brand new pool has been identified since 2008.

“Clubs and groups are already stretched,” White mentioned.

Originally scheduled to be decommissioned in 2017, the UNB pool has remained operational underneath an settlement that sees the town contribute $290,000 yearly for its maintenance.

The preliminary intent of this association was to purchase the town time to construct an aquatic centre that would host the town’s aggressive swimming golf equipment.

A brand new centre, nevertheless, has made little progress as the town waits for funding companions.

With a short lived closure of the UNB pool scheduled for this fall, golf equipment have needed to cut back, White mentioned. 

“Right now it’s even hard for clubs to keep existing, let alone welcome new members or for any new programs to come in.”

White mentioned the aim of Wednesday’s gathering was to have a good time the swimming group, but it surely additionally served as a reminder that the group is “really under threat.”

Anton Kuznetsov, 16, moved to Fredericton from Ukraine several years ago and said he found a community in swimming with the Aquanauts.

“All these people were the ones who welcomed me here and they’re basically now like family to us,” he said.

The pool in Fredericton is only 25 metres, so Kuznetsov said he often has to go to Saint John, where there is a 50-metre pool, to practise.

Kuznetsov said he hopes to take his swimming to university and beyond, so having a new pool is essential.

“I’m going to Olympic trials this summer and I hope our pool will at least be functional by then,” he said.

Gary Arsenault and Maureen Caslake are with the Silver Dolphins Swim Club, a club for seniors.

“I’m finding with using the pool, it just helps so much with just aging in general,” Arsenault said.

He said keeping seniors active and moving might even relieve some stress from the health-care system. 

With the fight for a new pool taking so long, Arsenault said, “we’re actually further behind than we were when we started this” because of how the UNB pool has deteriorated, leading to less access. 

Caslake, who said the social aspect of the club has been a “lifesaver,” agreed.

“The city has just shed their responsibility and just kick the can down the road each time,” Caslake said.

Some swimmers said the pool issue will play a role in who they vote for in the Fredericton mayoral race in May.

Two candidates, Jenica Atwin and Steve Hicks, both said in interviews that they would work to get a new pool built if elected. 

Hicks, a longtime city councillor, said the UNB pool was “bursting at the seams,” and a new one was long overdue. 

“We need some partners to contribute,” he mentioned. “It’s going to be a big project. We need everyone on board and it’s time.”

Atwin mentioned she would leverage her provincial and federal relationships from her time serving as the world’s member of Parliament to “be inventive with a few of these funding options.”

“Certainly, there’s going to be additional costs associated with that, but we need world-class facilities for our world-class capital city,” Atwin mentioned.