Does Waterloo need an elite aquatic facility?

CTV’s Krista Simpson asks Waterloo’s mayor why a new high-performance aquatic facility is needed in the city.

The Mayor of Waterloo would like to explore bringing a new, high performance aquatic facility to the city.

A motion scheduled to be discussed at the Nov. 24 meeting outlines the reasons why Dorothy McCabe would like to look at the feasibility of building a place not only to train elite athletes, but also to bring competitions to the city.

The facility would include a 50 metre pool, a practice pool, conditioning rooms and spectator seating.

“I think we need to really think big and think for the future,” McCabe said.

The mayor said too often she hears of elite athletes having to leave the area to train once they hit a certain level.

The motion also notes that right now, Wilfrid Laurier University has the only 50 metre pool in the entire Region of Waterloo. It is getting older and doesn’t quite meet competition standards with only six lanes instead of eight to ten.

“It’s not a true Olympic facility. It should be considered a training facility at only six lanes,” noted Kate McCrae Bristol, director of Laurier Athletics and Recreation.

It is a busy training facility, home to Laurier’s swim team and also used by numerous other swim clubs coming from as far away as Orangeville.

“It’s a high use facility, but it has its limits,” McCrae Bristol said.

If the mayor’s motion is passed, McCabe said it will send a signal to higher levels of government that Waterloo is interested in building a high-level facility, which is important as such a project would require provincial, and potentially federal, financial support.

“If you don’t put your hand up and say, we want to talk about it, then, then we won’t get anywhere,” McCabe said.

The idea of a high-performance facility has the support of organizations like Swim Ontario.

“Having a facility like this will definitely draw a lot of attention,” CEO Dean Boles said.

Boles says Swim Ontario has seen consistent growth each year, with more and more people interested in trying the sport.

Boles said in part the surge is attributed to the recent successes of Canadian swimmers like Olympian Summer McIntosh. However, he warned long wait lists for swim clubs and lessons could have an impact on the number of people who actually get into the sport.

Boles said building a new pool like what’s being proposed in Waterloo would benefit not only the city and Waterloo Region, but far beyond.

“It will have a big impact for a 200, 300 kilometre radius in Ontario.”

A high-performance facility could also free up more time at community pools for swimming lessons and other recreational activities.

“If we can build a facility that can serve a greater level of high-performance aquatics, that’s going to allow other facilities to focus more on recreation and put the right programming in the right pools,” Allister Scorgie, director of sport hosting at Explore Waterloo Region, said.

A new facility could also potentially draw in money for the city by hosting competitions.

“It’s definitely something that’s missing,” Scorgie said.

“There’s more demand than there is supply in Ontario for a facility of this type.”

Scorgie would like to see large scale swimming and other water sports events hosted in Waterloo Region one day.

“I would love to be able to explore bigger events and work with groups like water polo and artistic swimming and diving to drive more tourism to the region, but also to support our clubs. So, it’s a facility that we know we need.”

As for where in Waterloo such a centre could be built, the mayor said there’s a need for a new recreation facility on the west side of the city.

“If we were able to get the provincial dollars to do this, we would look to add that to the design and the development of the west side recreation facility,” McCabe said.

As for the Laurier pool, a year-long assessment is underway to determine its lifespan and future.

“It’s the most significant assessment that will have been done on the pool itself and the surrounding area to help us determine what we can do to go forward in a meaningful way, both for campus and student life but also for the community,” McCrae Bristol said.