Swimmers who regularly use Hamilton’s Water Palace for exercise hit out this week at the uncertain time it is going to take to fix the main pool’s adjustable floor.
The usual ‘deep end’ of the pool – normally 6ft 6ins — is currently stuck at 1ft 6inches due to the malfunction. It has been like that for almost three weeks.
A swimmer who contacted the Advertiser this week said the first he knew the floor wasn’t working properly was when he took a dip on the evening of Monday January 9 — a few days after the pool reopened following maintenance.
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He said: “The variable floor of the pool is stuck at 18 inches at the deep end. That’s not supposed to happen.
“The first thing I knew about it was when I went into the pool that Monday evening.
“Like many other users, I swim a fair amount of lengths of the pool to keep fit, but at the moment the situation is far from ideal.
“As you reach the deep end your knees tend to hit the floor and it’s difficult to turn round quickly.
“The water is so shallow that swimmers cannot dive into the pool at any point.
“Swimmers have had to ask management what the problem is. They were told that a part had to come from the States and a company from down south will then have to come up to Hamilton to fix it.
“But there is no timescale on when the problem will be fixed. They didn’t say how long it was likely to take. Meanwhile we do not have a working swimming pool.”
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The swimmer who has a senior citizens’ membership said the problem had occurred at least once before, adding that he feels shortchanged.
He pointed out: “I have to pay my membership up front. It costs me £53 at the beginning of each financial year for that membership. That’s a lot of money for a pensioner – and those paying the full-price adult monthly rate certainly aren’t getting value for money.”
South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture general manager Gerry Campbell said; “A fault with the floating floor in the main pool was discovered when the Hamilton Water Palace re-opened on January 7.
“In order to effect a repair a specialised part has been ordered from the manufacturer in America.
“We are co-ordinating with the company to arrange for an engineer to fit the part once it has been delivered.
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“At this stage we are unable to provide a date to our customers of when the pool will be fully functional. However, the main pool, leisure pool and gym at the Water Palace remain open.
“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused and realise the raised floating floor means some swimmers will not be able to use the pool as they would wish.
“I would highlight that South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture membership includes the use of all our swimming pools.”