University pool is amongst top 50 in the country
. Tuesday, July 13, 2004
The 25 metre pool at Hertfordshire Sports Village has been named as one of the top 50 places in the country for a swim.
The pool appeared in a list of the best 50 places for a swim in The Independent newspaper on Saturday.Public access to the eight-lane pool, built to national competition standard, and its movable boom which allows the swimming area to be split in two so different activities can take place at the same time were highlighted.And former GB Olympic swimming medallist Duncan Goodhew, who was one of the judges, also praised the under floor heating in the changing rooms. The pool, which is open to students and the public and is also used by top local swimming club Hatfield for some of its training sessions, is on the new University of Hertfordshire de Havilland campus which opened last year.
New university pool will take Hatfield Swimming Club into top division. Wednesday, June 11, 2003
The new eight-lane pool at Hertfordshire Sports Village will boost the status of the county’ s top swimming club taking it into the sport’s premier division.
Hatfield swimming club, which already has close links with the University of Hertfordshire, will be training its top squad at the new 25 metre pool which is built to competition standard. The club will also benefit from access to other facilities at the sports village. The state of the art gym will provide a venue for its land training and the sports department will provide the back up of sports nutrition advisers and physiotherapists.
There are also plans for swimmers from all over the UK who have already been selected as having world class potential to hold some of their weekend training camps at the sports village. Proposals to hold the national Speedo League championships at the pool are also being investigated.
Hatfields annual designated meet, the UK Challenge, will also be held at the new venue on the de Havilland campus in Hatfield. Now in its fourth year it attracts swimmers from all over the country who take part in more than 2,000 swims. The swimming clubs top coach Nick Juba said: “The new pool is going to offer us the opportunity to become a major swimming force in Britain —beyond the South East. Currently we are just outside the premier league of clubs but the facilities available to us at the sports village will bring us into that division.”
The major appeal of the new pool is that it offers the clubs swimmers more time to train and more space both of which improve the quality of their training.The universitys director of sport and recreation Nick Brooking said the new pool created the perfect opportunity for the university to develop its support for the club in the locality.“Currently the club has to hire a pool in Borehamwood for extra sessions for its top swimmers. The new pool will enable the university and club partnership to develop further as the top squad formed from the club and the university will have access to some quality water time, fitness and coaching expertise under one roof.
“The Hatfield club does an outstanding job in developing top swimmers potential and this fits with our philosophy at the sports village so we are happy to help.” However the university is keen to stress that it is not only elite swimmers who will be able to benefit from the new pool because the facility, which has excellent access to St.Albans and Welwyn Garden City, will be open to the public on a membership or pay as you go basis. Lane swimming will always be available and swimming lessons and some exercise classes are also planned.
University supports top swimming club. Friday, April 23, 2004
The University of Hertfordshire joined local councillors to wish good luck to top county swimming club Hatfield before the squad left to take part in the national Speedo League championship finals in Sheffield last week (Sunday 18 April).
The squad includes University of Hertfordshire student and GB senior swimmer Vicky Cook- who has a swimming scholarship and recently competed in the trials for the British Olympic team - and former UH student and Paralympic medallist from the Sydney Olympics Jody Cundy.
The club’s top swimmers regularly train at the university’s new 25-metre pool and Vision health and fitness club but maintain some swimming sessions at the Hatfield Swim Centre.
University sports development manager Bryn Clark (back row second from right) is pictured with Welwyn and Hatfield Council chairman Cllr Roger Trigg and Hatfield Town Council chairman Cllr Nick Atkinson (centre) at Hatfield Swim Centre.
The swimmers, who are pictured wearing polo shirts sponsored by the University, finished 5th in the final making the club one of the top in the country.
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