POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality swimming pool’s poor water quality has seen major swimming meets being moved elsewhere, with the municipality blaming the situation on load-shedding and water woes.
Limpopo Swimming Aquatics recently took the decision to move all major swimming competitions to Tzaneen due to the poor state of the local pool’s water quality.
For several years, the association hosted swimming championships, including swimming galas, provincial swimming championships and national qualification swimming championships at the pool.
The pool was opened to community members and leisure activities in November.
According to Rob Anderson, the vice president of Limpopo Swimming Aquatics, the decision to move their events to Tzaneen was based on the well-being of their swimmers.
“The water quality is not to a standard where swimming championships can be hosted here. We cannot compromise the health of the swimmers at all. We had to take a calculated risk and we decided that all provincial swimming events will be hosted in Tzaneen until the Polokwane swimming pool is in better condition.”
He also mentioned that the move to Tzaneen will hamper local tourism and small business owners.
“When we host such an event, the tourism establishments are filled and the occupancy rate is high. The events are held over two to three days, and visitor revenue does much for small business owners.”
He says their next event will be the Limpopo Schools Swimming Championships, scheduled in Tzaneen for February 3-4.
Roughly 300 swimmers from across the province are expected to participate.
“This is a huge event and includes swimmers from top schools in the city. It would be ideal to host the event in Polokwane but we decided to take it to Tzaneen,” Anderson remarked.
Ude Fuchs, a local swimming coach at Action Aquatics said the situation is unfortunate and places an additional financial burden on swimmers and their families.
“We are baffled by the unavailability of the local swimming pool. From our club, we have 30 swimmers who are based in Polokwane and who will now have to travel to Tzaneen. The Polokwane pool is central for all those who want to participate. It meets Olympic standards, has a time board and has the capacity to host big events. Its unavailability is a big blow to all swimmers in Limpopo. It is ultimately the responsibility of the municipality to ensure that the pool is maintained.”
Manthlako Sebaka, the manager of sport and recreation at Polokwane Municipality said they are aware of the concerns raised by the swimming association and will attend to these.
“We are living in abnormal times due to load-shedding. We also have problems with water and most people are aware of that. We acknowledge all the concerns raised by the swimming association and we will prioritise them in the next financial year. Sport tourism is our mantra and we would love to host such events in the future.”
Contacted for comment, Pelane Phakgadi, spokesperson of the Department of Sport, supported what he termed “the rotation of the hosting of swimming events beyond the city of Polokwane”, saying Tzaneen as a town could benefit as host.
“Any movement to ensure the development of sport is critical towards building our society and social cohesion.”
Johannes Maree, research professor in water and sanitation at the University of Limpopo said the municipality needs to maintain the swimming pool regularly and increase pump capacity.
“The pool might be lacking maintenance. I think the municipality should explore new technologies to maintain the pool and water quality.”
