Sector 63, Mohali indoor swimming pool opens after four years

Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service
Mohali, April 15

In a major relief for Mohali professional swimmers, district’s only 50m indoor swimming pool in Sector 63, which was inaccessible for the past four years due to one reason or the other, has been finally repaired and now opened.

No fault in pool

Sources maintained that experts didn’t find any fault in the pool, despite the fact that it remained closed for years. The pool was thrown open to public in 2015, but remained out of bounds. In 2016, it was closed after six pipes that carry water from the filtration tanks were damaged. In 2017, it was opened partially for a couple of months before being shut due to other technical issues. In 2018, it was reopened for sometime but was closed due to a leakage. The last championship conducted here was in 2016-17 by the Mohali Swimming Association (Punjab State Junior Championship).

The Sector 63 indoor pool, only Olympic-size (50m) pool in the district, was thrown open to public in 2015. Since then, it has not catered to swimmers due to persistent technical issues. However, taking advantage of the lockdown period, the Punjab Sports Department finally repaired it and, following the guidelines, opened it strictly for high-performance professional swimmers of the district.

“It’s a welcome and much-needed step considering upcoming events. Pools across India have been opened for professionals. We have been practicing out of water for the past one year and it has affected our performance,” said Varnika, a swimmer.

The eight-lane pool is serving to nearly 16 swimmers at one time. As per SOPs, two swimmers practice in a single lane, following other measurements.

“Only high-performance swimmers have been allowed to practice. They have lost crucial time during the Covid break. They all are mature and concerned about their performance. There are nearly 30 professional swimmers, a majority of them from Mohali district, practicing under different slots here. The department has helped these swimmers, when they needed the most. It’s an appreciable step,” said Coach Johny Bhatia.

“Now that we have got the opportunity to practice in water, we all have to act responsibly. Rise in Covid cases is surely a concern, but most of the arenas are open for professional players. A sudden dip in performance can be only recovered in the coming two or three months before participating in championships,” said Jasnoor, another swimmer.

“The swimmers were in dire need of a pool to practice. We have seen that India’s Sajan lost Olympics berth by just a few seconds on Tuesday. We have to plan in a better way to perform at such level. Now that the Punjab Sports Department has opened the pool, we will surely give the results,” said Parbhat Sharma, general secretary, Mohali Swimming Association.