From Daniel Hawkshaw.
THE article about the pool costs (JEP, 22 Jun), with regards to Fort Regent and the waterfront, made me realise how the lack of planning and financial approach has led to such a waste of time and money, and reducing the investment in talent around Jersey swimming.

I am 28 years old and was a competitive swimmer for the Island at both club and national level. The Fort is where I, like many others, learnt to swim when I was five.

Saturday nights at the Fort were a pleasure for me while I was growing up. My mum would watch me learn to swim from the pool side with the other mums, and my dad could relax in the pub, have a pint, but still watch me swim.

There was a simple progression from learning to swim to joining one of the thriving clubs that had pool time at the Fort. I now feel like I was one of the lucky ones. Back then there was something for all the family and a clear route to becoming a competitive swimmer.

Now what do we have? The Waterfront, which is only partly used for learning to swim. Then you have to go to a club to progress in swimming. The clubs should be teaching the swimming and letting children and parents enjoy swimming as both a leisure pastime and a sport, as it was at the Fort.

In 2002 the States decided it was too expensive to renovate the swimming pool at the Fort and decided instead to subsidise the development of a new venture pool as part of the Town Development Plan.

As part of this, it was decided that, in order for the owner of the building to make it economic, all swimming lessons in town could only be provided by them.

In your excellent article, you identify that even with the subsidy of building and exclusivity of swimming in St Helier, they still need subsidy from the States, even to a point where it would have actually been more economic to refurbish the swimming pool at the Fort.

The only reason people go to the Waterfront to learn is because the States made it so – there was nowhere else to go. We were told that without that revenue the Waterfront pool would not be a worthwhile business.

Now we see that the costs for the Waterfront nearly match the Fort. Unbelievable! We have now won the Island Games, but Les Quennevais pool is not up to standard as a racing pool. There is not enough room for the swimming teams on pool side, as well as for the adults above, and the blocks don’t have the electronic starting wires fitted. Unfortunately, the list goes on.

As a former Island Games swimmer, I think it is sad that such poor grasp of economics, as well as vision for swimming in Jersey, has led to a situation where we have the Island Games but no pool suitable for the competition without considerable investment.

Who now is going to pay to upgrade the Jersey facilities, the Jersey taxpayer? If so, well done, waste some more of the tax payers’ money. Great!