Swimmers from all over South Africa will be drawn to the high-performance centre at the Hoërskool Sentraal in Bloemfontein, after an agreement between the school and Swimming South Africa (Swim SA) was signed on Tuesday, 11 June.
This is only the sixth centre of its kind in the country.
The pool at the school was, among other things, made deeper, re-tiled and heated – at a cost of R13 million – to meet the standards set by Swim SA.
“While Swim SA is the number one federation in South Africa, it has been a difficult journey as there are still too many drownings in the country. Our vision is to ensure that every child can swim or is, at least, water safe,” said Allan Fritz, president of Swim SA.
“Swimming is not only a sport, but a life skill.”
Fritz stressed that this was not a provincial academy, but a national one.
“It will attract children from as far as Keetmanshoop, Windhoek, and Cape Town. We also want to ensure that the swimming talent in the Free State is properly developed. The centre will set up an environment to yield more champions from here.”
Charles Liversage, principal of Sentraal, stressed that the high-performance centre was not only for the school.
“While we will certainly benefit from it, the idea is to serve the entire Free State community.
“Two years ago, we had to decide whether we were going to get rid of our swimming pool or if we were going to upgrade it. We decided on the latter, and here we are today. Eventually, we want to have enclosed facilities.
“We already have solar panels to not only heat the pool’s water, but also to provide power to the school.”
Dean Price, high-performance manager of Swim SA, said according to planning at least 30 schools would be brought on board as high-performance centres.
“Sentraal has one of the best swimming facilities in the country. It is a true diamond in Bloemfontein.”
Fritz mentioned that many municipal facilities have gone to waste.
“The country is in decline and drugs and violence are tearing our youth apart. Sports at school can change that.
“We have also found that children who participate in swimming do better academically because it teaches them discipline.”
