The Cayman Islands swimming community’s decades-long push for an Olympic-sized 50-metre pool is “getting very close” to a done deal, according to Cayman Islands Aquatic Sports Association president Steve Broadbelt.
When constructed alongside a separate 25m pool, a gym and an 1,800-seat grandstand as part of a proposed aquatics centre, Broadbelt added that it will be “the fastest [50m] pool in the Caribbean”.
Broadbelt has been spearheading collective efforts from CIASA in recent years to finalise the plans for the centre, for which he says $4 million has now been included in the Cayman Islands government’s next budget.
“It’s got support from ministers and members of Cabinet, and we’re really grateful for the will that they’re putting behind it to make it happen,” Broadbelt said. “Without their support, we couldn’t do it.”
The CIASA president added that the project is a public-private partnership, with the remaining 50% of funding coming from corporate sponsorships and donations that he said they are continually searching for.
Broadbelt and Jacky Pellerin, CIASA’s technical director, recently travelled to the Italian headquarters and factory of Myrtha Pools, a renowned worldwide manufacturer and installer of state-of-the-art, pre-engineered, stainless steel-based modular swimming pools – including that which three of Cayman’s swimmers raced in at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. The duo were joined in Italy by Sports Minister Bernie Bush.
Following that trip, Broadbelt said that he met with Bush on-island on 18 July, adding that the design process, final quote and arrangements with suppliers are now “all complete”.
“[The] next step is to just finalise some details with the site and get it in for planning approval,” Broadbelt said. Those details include receiving a Cabinet approval of the aquatics centre’s proposed site on Crown property at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
“We’re signing, by the end of the month or thereabouts, a new commitment letter from the government,” Broadbelt added.
Familiar conversations – but new territory?
After years of talks with the government continually fell through due to factors including Hurricane Ivan, the 2008 global financial crisis and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, Broadbelt said that the project is “at a very advanced stage”.
As shared with the Compass in January, the proposed aquatics centre would be built on four acres of land, including where the Lions Aquatic Centre stands. The 50m pool would have a bulkhead capable of separating it into two smaller pools, while both it and the separate new 25m pool would have 10 lanes – an expansion on the six-lane, 25m pool currently in use there.
Demo of pace-training LED lights.
In addition, Broadbelt said the facilities would include Myrtha Pools’ ‘AngelEye’ safety system, which uses video surveillance to constantly monitor the pool for any swimmers in difficulty. This newest model of the company’s pool also features moving LED lights which can be set at a specific pace to run along the bottom of the pool in each lane.
Broadbelt also recently confirmed to the Compass that the new aquatics centre’s 25m pool would retain the name ‘Lions Pool’ to carry on the legacy of Cayman swimming’s long-running relationship with the Lions Club of Grand Cayman.
“We’re very happy with [the Lions Club’s] support,” Broadbelt said. “That’s been a condition from the government all along: that if the Lions are not backing this proposal, then the government’s not backing it either.”
With the existing pool facilities adjacent to the Truman Bodden stadium set to be demolished following the completion of the new aquatics centre, athlete accommodation (to be used for any sport) would be erected in their place.
Given final plans have not yet been submitted to the Department of Planning, it remains to be seen whether construction will begin by the end of 2023 as was initially hoped-for back in January. However, for the community that has long yearned for facilities like those of Cayman’s sporting rivals in the region, these developments will no doubt be a welcome sign that what once seemed like a pipe dream is now edging ever closer.
Why all the fuss?
Proponents of a publicly available 50m pool in Cayman have commonly touted lack of sufficient lane space and pool time as issues for everyone in learn-to-swim programmes to the national team swimmers.
“We’re not giving the young kids at school the opportunity to learn to swim other than some very basic pool time,” Broadbelt said. “The Flowers Swim Free programme is fantastic, and that will exaggerate the problem in a way because they’re going to be getting people excited about swimming… and then we’ve got nowhere for them to go after that.”
He added, “The new aquatics centre will change that. It will be a natural fit: [Swim Free] is a starter programme, then it will go into a more comprehensive learn-to-swim programme, and then the new aquatics centre – so it’s all starting to come together.”
For competitive swimmers on local club teams like Stingray Swim Club, Seven Mile Swimmers and Camana Bay Aquatics Club, the prospect of training in a 50m pool is an exciting one. For one thing, it would allow swimmers to prepare in the same length of pool as most top international competitions are held in, from CARIFTA to the Olympics.
“Long course [50m pool] swimming is different from short course [25m pool] swimming,” said Sarah Jackson, who grew up swimming with Stingray Swim Club at the Lions Pool. Now an NCAA Division I swimmer at the University of Northern Colorado, she was recently part of multiple medal-winning relays for Cayman at the 2023 Island Games.
“Cayman swimming hasn’t let that barrier stop us – but imagine, if we were able to practise long-course racing year-round, just how much more confident we would be going into competition,” Jackson said.
Opening doors
Pellerin, of CIASA, likened training for long-course competitions in a short-course pool to “training a football team on only half a field”. He added that the benefits to Cayman’s competitive swimming community would resonate both with local athletes directly, and in terms of the potential doors these developments could open.
With more spectator seating, as well as larger pools that would meet regulation size for more competitions, Pellerin expects that higher level meets such as the Island Games and CARIFTA could soon reach Cayman’s shores.
Not only would those competitions give Cayman’s athletes the chance to compete in front of a home crowd against some of the best in the region (and even the world), but they – along with Cayman’s potential to host elite swimmers and teams from other countries for training camps – could also provide a significant boost to the island’s sports tourism economy.
That final point is also where the proposed athlete accommodation, which Broadbelt said would be ideally situated to house visiting athletes from all sports, comes in.
“You speak to [representatives of] any focus sports, or any sport in the Cayman Islands, the number one problem with hosting international events is accommodation,” Broadbelt said, pointing to pricy hotels that are located too far from the majority of the island’s sports venues. “This will change that; whether it’s swimming, netball, basketball – you name it, athlete housing will be right here.”
Broadbelt added that this accommodation, once in use, would generate additional revenue streams that could both offset some of the proposed aquatics centre’s operational costs, as well as funnel any profit back into the country’s sports.
While perhaps the loudest calls for these facilities have come from those in competitive swimming, Broadbelt reiterated that with senior wellness programmes as well as the on-site gym, the goal is for the aquatics centre to be “a place that can be at the centre of the community, for the community”.
He added, “It’s not just about one new pool, or one aquatics centre. It’s a whole master plan.”
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Let’s hope some time slots are set aside for the general public that enjoys lap swimming. Charge a fee. An hour or two a day. Online reservations.
The same could be said of the wonderful pool on Cayman Brac. A city of 25,000 people would be proud to have it. But apparently only for the school kids to use. Very sad.
Our swimmers certainly deserve a 50 meter pool, but this “master plan” sounds somewhat grandiose. How much will all this cost?, this is not mentioned in the article neither where all the money will come from.