The State's first Olympic-size swimming pool opened to the public at the University of Limerick this week. The 50-metre pool, based at the university's new ¤25 million sports arena, conforms to FINA (International Federation of Aquatics) competition standards. It is 25 metres wide, up to 2.7 metres deep and is surrounded by seating for up to 500 people.
Mr Paul Donovan, manager of the University Arena, said it had taken a week to fill the pool with 3.2 million litres of water in November and a further two weeks to heat the water to the required temperature.
On the weekend of April 13th, the pool will host its first competition, the first official long-course swimming event to be held in the State. There is provision for five gala events annually.
"The unique feature of the pool is that, over the last 16 metres of it, it has a moveable floor that we can adjust to various depths from the side," said Mr Donovan. This enables it to be both a teaching pool and a professional pool.
The pool will be made available to the public as part of the university's ethos of being accessible to the community. The arena also offers private club membership.
The pool is heated by a combined heat and power (CHP) plant which maximises energy efficiencies. The heat created by a gas-fired 206-kilowatt power plant is used to warm the water. In exceptionally cold weather, back-up boilers are used.
Even at that, an annual fuel bill of €380,921 (£300,000) is anticipated. "There are so many variables. What temperature do you keep the pool at? A drop of half of a degree can mean big savings but perhaps make the pool a little too cold for kids," Mr Donovan said.
The only other 50-metre pool in the State is the training pool at the Westwood Club in Dublin, but a second Olympic-size pool is planned for the new National Stadium in Abbottstown, Co Dublin, and is to be built in time for the Special Olympics next year.
Mr Donovan said that the Irish Sports Council was aware of the poor infrastructure available for athletes but had cited the new arena pool as an exception.
The arena is the largest purpose-built indoor sports facility in the State, containing a 3,600-square-metre indoor athletics space with a sprinting and jogging track. It can also incorporate different courts for basketball, volleyball, badminton and indoor soccer and has seating for 1,500 people. Other facilities include a cardio-fitness centre, a weight training room and an aerobic studio. The last stage of the 10-year project is the installation of a sauna, jacuzzi and steam room.
The University Arena, a separate legal entity from the University of Limerick, is self-financing, although it gets an operational grant from the Government for allowing competitive swimming training in the pool.
Among the directors of the company, Plassey Campus Arena, are the Irish athlete Sonia O'Sullivan, the former swimming international Gary O'Toole and the former Kilkenny hurler Eddie Keher.
Mr Donovan said there had been a highly competitive tendering process for the project in the early 1990s.
The pool was designed by Mr Joe Huntsaker, a US-based consultant who has worked on Olympic pools around the world.