By the end of September, Victoria will be without a public pool. Crystal Pool is closing for good Sept. 25 so it can be demolished and replaced with a new $209.2-million aquatic and recreation centre. But the city’s interim pool and recreation centre won’t be ready when Crystal Pool closes, leaving the Spirit Orcas and other swim clubs scrambling for limited pool time — and one accessible club worried about whether it can survive the disruption. “I don’t know if the Spirit Orcas will have a swim club after this,” said Susan Simmons, who coaches the club for adults with intellectual disabilities. The athletes normally have three one-hour training sessions each week at Crystal Pool. So far, they’ve secured one hour of pool time on Sundays at Saanich’s Commonwealth Stadium, as long as there aren’t any competitions scheduled. “I can’t ask an athlete to go into competition when they’re only training one day a week. That will put them in harm’s way,” Simmons said in an interview with CTV News. Simmons is appealing to private pool operators for access to a larger facility. She said the Spirit Orcas and other clubs are competing for limited space at regional recreation centres, with many of the available sessions falling early in the morning or late at night, times that aren’t accessible for many athletes and families. The disruption is also affecting younger swimmers. The Oak Bay Orcas, a club for swimmers aged five to 19, says it will begin its winter season without some of its junior swimmers because of the limited pool time available. “We are going to start our winter season without our junior swimmers, as the times we have secured at Oak Bay Rec are too late in the evenings for them and their families,” club president Jon Lawlor said in an email to CTV News. “We are very hopeful that we will be able to secure some favourable time slots at the new Broughton location when it opens in January.” A ‘necessary’ pool-free period Victoria Parks and Recreation director Derrick Newman acknowledged the city is in the midst of a “tough transition.” “We recognize that there will be a period of time between when the Crystal Pool closes and the interim facility opens,” Newman told reporters Tuesday. “It’s necessary for us to continue closing the facility in September in order to keep the project on time and on budget.” The city secured the former YMCA facility on Broughton Street as its interim pool and recreation centre, but a major leak on the building’s top floor in June has delayed its opening. Newman said the city is still assessing the damage and working with insurance providers to determine the scope of the repairs. “We’re doing everything in our power to expedite those improvements to open it early in the new year,” he said. Once it opens, the facility will be called the Victoria Rec Centre. The city is winding down its summer programs and swimming lessons at Crystal Pool. It has not opened registration for fall programs, meaning there won’t be any cancellations as the facility prepares to close. The city said roughly 2,500 people accessed Crystal Pool last fall, including nearly 1,100 people who took swimming lessons. The replacement recreation centre is projected to open by late 2030.
