Welsh elite swimmers 'like kids at Disneyland' as they return to the pool
- Published
Facilities such as the Cardiff International Pool cost £50,000 a month 'just to turn the lights and heating on', according to Swim Wales chief executive Fergus Feeney
Swim Wales chief executive Fergus Feeney says his elite swimmers were "like kids at Disneyland" as they returned to pool training this week.
Indoor facilities have been closed since March amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Neither the UK nor Welsh governments have yet to allow pools to reopen for general public use, despite lockdown restrictions being eased for other sports.
"It's been more than 100 days without pools," Feeney told BBC Sport Wales.
"Some of these elite swimmers have been swimming since they were five or six years old and they haven't had a single day out of the water... they're water-babies at heart.
"They were like kids at Disneyland, they were beaming to be back in it and that makes it all worthwhile, all the negotiation and planning.
"It's a massive first step and we're delighted how it went.
"It was a very safe and organised environment: sign-posted where the swimmers would go; using individual cubicles three cubicles apart with names on the cubicles; a plastic box (for kit) and chair by the pool; and each swimmer had a designated lane.
"But after the pre-pool bit and the post-pool bit, the bit in the middle was quite normal by all accounts and I'm delighted with how it went.
"They'll adjust to this and this will be the norm for the next few weeks."
Swim Wales opted to use the 25m-long pool in Newport rather than its 50m base at the Wales National Pool in Swansea, or its other high-performance centre at Cardiff International Pool.
"We share these facilities with other user groups and it is a challenge for well over 300 pools across Wales, that to open the doors it needs to be financially viable," Feeney explained.
"These big pools can be in excess of £50,000-£60,000 per month just to turn the lights and the heating on.
"So to do that just for our cohort of swimmers at this early stage of the relaxation of restrictions was a lot to ask.
"Our partners are working towards opening and just weren't ready yet, so a smaller pool was an easier way to manage that.
"It's not ideal because to train for the Olympics you need an Olympic-sized pool - a 50m pool, a long-course pool - but it'll do for the next few weeks and we're very grateful to have it."
There has been strong criticism of the UK government's decision to delay the reopening of pools to the public, with Olympic champion Adam Peaty warning it could affect people's mental and physical health.
But Feeney believes the return of elite athletes to the water is an important first step in that process in Wales, which is following the guidelines set out by the Welsh Government.
"It is linked... as we test it, it is important to apply some of the tweaks for the masses," he said.
"We respect the approach taken by the Welsh Government to protect us all... and we respect that their process is a progressive process based on science and medical evidence.
"We'll work with that and our job is to provide and prove that we have safe working practices in our user groups to convince government that by opening pools, letting people back into pools for recreational swimming or lesson, that we won't put the rest of us at risk."