New aquatic centre a chance for Ottawa to make a splash, advocates say

Competitive swimmers in Ottawa haven't been able to get home-pool advantage in a major competition for years.

If a bigmeet is held at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, for instance,their southern Ontario rivals will know how the pool works and willhave a routine and a home-cooked meal ahead of a racethat could be decided by milliseconds.

That's why a planned aquatic sport centre for Ottawa with one or two Olympic-sized 50-metre poolsis being heralded as a welcome investment.

"It's definitely something that would be nice to have. [You'd]get to sleep in your own bed and thenrace your best race the next morning," said Alexandre Perreault, who competes with the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Swim Club and is a former memberof the national team.

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The city is looking for partners for the aquatic centre project, with the aim of hostinglarge competitions within the next 10 years.

The deadline for expressions of interest is Jan. 14, less than one week away.

The local aquatic sports community has been calling for an upgrade to the city's existing pools for some time, asOttawa's only Olympic-sized 50-metre pool, located at the Nepean Sportsplex, has fallen behind international standards after almost 50 years of operation.

That's disqualified the nation's capital from hosting major competitions.

"[A new centre] would give the younger generation in Ottawa an opportunity to have access to a better pool, better starting blocks, better air quality," Perreault said.

Demand on pools 'just huge'

There's impatience for the project to get off the ground after Canada's recent high-profile successes, said Marcia Morris, president of the Ottawa Sport Council.

"Swimming, because of what's happening in the Olympics, is just becoming more and more popular. And the demand on our pools is just huge," she said.

Hosting competitions also attracts tourism dollars, Morris said. While the new facility should be able to accommodate an event like the Canada Games, she said italso needs to provide opportunities to local athletes.

New aquatic centre could offer training opportunities for Ottawa athletes, advocate says

3 years ago

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Marcia Morris, executive director of the Ottawa Sport Council, says having a new Olympic-sized pool in the city would be a huge boon for athletes looking for training facilities.

Along with encouraging athletes and drawing visitors to the city, an aquatic facility will also provide an opportunity to address the city's overbooked swimming classes, said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, the city's sports commissioner.

Fleury said the city has set aside money for the construction of an Olympic-sized pool and has the expertise to run the facility, but other elements and the funding needed to build them will be part of the proposal process.

"It can't just be a local pool, it can't just be a hosting pool," said Fleury.

"I think to get the projects that everyone wants the local swimmers want and the hosting potential of that facility we need to bring partners together."

Carleton University, the University of Ottawa and the RA Centre have all expressed some interest in an aquatic sports complex in the past, the councillor said.

So has Peter Lawrence, a longtime leader in the water polo community who's been working with various partners foralmost half a decade to establish what he calls a "world-class" national aquatic complex in the capital region.

Their group's project is even more ambitious than what the city's laid out, asit may include a third Olympic-sized pool, a dedicated diving tank and evencourts for basketball and pickleball.

The estimated cost would be $300 million, and Lawrence said his group has designs on it being located on the federally-owned Hurdman lands. He said while the community would have access to the 24-hour facility, it'salso meant to retain athletes who've had to move or commute to Toronto to pursue their careers.

"We can't have that. We're destroying the potential for Ottawa's high performance community.We really must provide facilities," he said.

The city's document for the new aquatic centre doesn't lay out a specific location, although it does note a parcel has been identified in Riverside South for some kind of recreation centre.

It also says the project should be developed close to either LRT or bus rapid transit.