Treading water: Edmonton swim clubs struggle to find pool time amid closures

Edmonton swim clubs are struggling to find time for their athletes to train after the closures of four major pool facilities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Olympian Swim Club, one of Edmonton's largest competitive swimming clubs, has lost all four of its main training pools.

Club president Jared Buhler said it's put the whole club in a tricky position.

"It's been crisis after crisis after crisis paired with COVID," Buhler said.

The first to go was the pool at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in July of 2020. Citing financial pressures and low usage, NAIT announced the pool would be closed permanently.

In June 2021, the pool at the city's Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre closed for renovations. Phase 1 of the work is underway and expected to be completed in spring 2023.

Phase 2 rehabilitation work is planned but not yet funded, a city spokesperson said. If the budget gets approved, construction is planned for 2023-26, with full completion in 2026. If the funding does not get approved, the Peter Hemingway pool would reopen in 2023, and Phase 2 work would be paused.

In May of this year, St. Albert's Fountain Park pool shut down for renovations. In August, the City of St. Albert announced that a significant structural issue had been discovered.

St. Albert officials say the pool is now expected to reopen in the summer of 2023.

In August, Edmonton city council voted to close Scona Pool permanently due to the growing costs of repairs.

Buhler said the Olympian Swim Club was able to pick up the pieces, at the cost of cutting back its developmental program.

"That's where the heaviest demand is right now city-wide," he said.

"There's a shortage of programs for learning to swim and developmental