One stroke short of a 50m pool

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IF swimming superstar Grant Hackett wants to beat his own world 1500m record, he should head to Geelong’s new pool.

There, the dual-Olympic gold medallist would have to swim only 1499.4m.

In an embarrassing bungle, Geelong Council’s new $4.4 million pool is 20mm short of 50m.

That’s enough to save Hackett 60cm over the course of 1500m.

The pool’s steel frame, which was shipped in from Italy, is about 20mm shorter than the standards set by FINA, swimming’s international governing body.

A plan to pour 250 million litres of hot water into the pool in a desperate attempt to stretch it has been abandoned.

Instead, builders will demolish one end of the pool and extend it.

The bold manoeuvre will cost more than $30,000.

The head coach of Geelong Aquatic Centre Sharks, John Mitchell, said the pool was unacceptable. “As it stands, it’s not up to FINA standards and 20mm makes a big difference,” he said.

“Even at my level, and I’ve coached some tremendous swimmers, 20mm is a lifetime. It’s not an ideal situation.”

The pool frame arrived in perfect shape but has since shrunk.

“It’s a pretty big embarrassment,” a source said.

“Steel, over 50m, can move in the weather by up to 50mm. It’s adjustable, it’s not unfixable.

“It’s been right the whole job but something very recently has caused it to move and we don’t know why.

“The pool will be fine in two weeks’ time. We’re doing tests with surveyors and rectifying it.”

The City of Greater Geelong Council, which is paying for the pool, was not aware of the problem yesterday.

But a spokesman said the Italian manufacturer of the pool supplied its product all over the world with no problems of compliance with international standards.

“The City of Greater Geelong is buying a FINA-compliant pool and that’s what we expect delivered,” the spokesman said.

Council fought off claims last year that the pool was too shallow.

The open-air facility, only 100m from Skilled Stadium, is the second at Kardinia Park.

Builder Kane Constructions won the tender to build the pool last August.

It is earmarked for the 2006 International Life Saving Federation championships in February.