The family of a swimmer who is hoping to one day represent her country at the Paralympics is calling on the new Castle Sports Complex to be built so she and others can continue to train there.
Lincolnshire para-swimming champion Orlaigh Greer already has bronze medals at a national level in the 100m backstroke and freestyle and part of the Midlands Development squad.
The 12-year-old with cerebral palsy is a member of the South Lincs Swimming Group who train at the Spalding leisure centre.
But the current pool is not deep enough at the shallow end to allow competitive swimmers to turn round.
Orlaigh’s mum Nikki Staines says currently her daughter is small enough to carry out turns in the shallow end at the Castle Sports, but she’ll grow to be too big for it to be a viable place to train in the future.
She’s calling on the new pool being built partly through £20m of government Levelling Up funding to be built to a standard that allows competitive swimming.
“It’s heart-breaking to think that we would have to train elsewhere,” she said. “The love, support, coaches and everything that goes in to making champions, is already at the club with the exception of the facilities.
“Spalding is a developing town, which needs a leisure facility that meets demand.”
“The club are fully behind her and gave her the confidence to compete.
“Being able to train in Spalding cuts down on travelling time which can put extra pressures on a 14 or 15-year-old.
“To have the facilities locally would be amazing.
“The club don’t have the facilities to put on galas properly.
“The floor can be lowered in some pools to allow competitions and the swimmers to turn in the water or some are 50m Olympics size pools that have a wall that comes up and separates them into two 25m pools.
“They have these sort of things in Grantham and Louth in Lincolnshire already, so why not here?”
Nikki says that swimming has helped in her everyday life and means she’s more mobile than doctors though she would be.
“They’ve been astonished with her mobility since swimming,” she said. ““She’s a very different and much more confident person as a result of it.”
Councillor Gary Taylor, South Holland District Council deputy leader and portfolio holder for leisure centre delivery, said: “We are continuing to make good progress on the design proposals for the new South Holland Health and Wellbeing Hub, which is being supported by £20million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.
“We want to make sure that as many people as possible, from all ages, backgrounds, abilities and interests, will be able to access and enjoy the new state of the art facilities.
“Community consultation and engagement with our residents and current users of the leisure centre will take place in the coming months, and we welcome all opportunities for feedback and suggestions that can be considered during the design process.”
