Dear Editor:
The Harry Jerome Redevelopment Project, in particular the 50-metre pool, came up in your June 20 article about city council’s decision to move forward with the Darwin proposal. Much has been made of the need for a 50-metre pool being for “elite athletes” and being an Olympic-sized pool. The proposed pool is neither of these. For one, it is eight lanes, not the required 10 lanes for an Olympic-sized pool, and it is not for “elite athletes.” One has to ask why a larger pool being built for the future growth of the city is equated with “elite athletes.”
“Elite athlete” is not in the Oxford dictionary, but, if one Googles the term, you will find that it is generally defined and used in sport organizations to mean, “a person who is currently or has previously competed as a varsity player (individual or team), a professional player or a national or international level player.” It is not defined by a specific sport or by the number of hours of training. An “elite athlete” is not someone who aspires to join a university team or a national team by training hard; it is someone who has achieved university or national level standards or been selected as a paid athlete – high bars indeed.
Almost all of the children who belong to aquatics sports clubs in North Vancouver are 14 and under; they choose water-based sports over land-based sports because they would rather play water polo or swim than play soccer or basketball. They are willing to train hard so they can improve at their sport – no different than any sport. Our community should support a rich environment of all sports for children (and adults too) to keep them active and fit and to enjoy their sport of choice.
We need a 50-metre pool because it has the flexibility to be divided into three different areas – aquacize, lessons, lane swimming – all at the same time, and provides a greater capacity for the growth we see all around us. We don’t need “elite athletes” to come back from university or national teams to fill the pool; but, the city does need larger recreation facilities as it is building for the future (i.e., next 50-60 years), not the past.
The community will be able to enjoy the benefits of this new Harry Jerome Community Centre now and into the future; and, as a bonus, thanks to the revenue generated by the Harry Jerome Redevelopment Lands, the new Harry Jerome will be built without burdening taxpayers.
Linda Sullivan, president
North Shore Aquatics Society
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