Swimming Pool

The Advertiser: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
GIVES $15m FOR POOL :

"SA's swimming participation rate is dramatically lower than the rest of the nation at just 10.3 per cent of the population. The national average is 15.3 per cent."

About time!! We used to have great pools here and they have all been under pressure because they have not really been upgraded. People stopped going to pools because everyone has a pool at home, so the competitive side of swimming was lost. You have to be with others in the right environment to develop the notion swimming is a great sport. Lots of kids had given up on sport too. There was a real sitting around feel to Adelaide. We seem to be over it. Lots of kids are playing all sorts of sport with cricket and football at the top and there is a big interest in volleyball and quite good interest in soccer and rugby. Kids have always gone to the learn to swim things at school and having seen the effects of that in my own family I can only heartily congratulate schools and community organisations for keeping that alive and well. Kids all have good swimming skills here and so for some of them it'll be great to get a proper training facility and given kids and water go well together we may well see a drift back to swimming. The facility at Marion will favour centrally and southern placed kids. I am not sure how well it will service the Northern suburbs. It would suit the hosting of interstate events since Marion is well situated near the shopping centre and the coast. Accommodation for interstate visitors might need to be considered. It's great and I am certain it'll cause a lot of excitement.