The club's 80 young swimmers are relieved to have their pool back, after problems with a management company left them swimming wherever they could.
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00:00 What do swimmers do without their pool?
00:02 This was the struggle facing the Eden Bridge Piranhas, a swimming club in the east of the
00:07 county, after their firm forced the shutting down of their leisure centre, after the company
00:12 went into liquidation.
00:15 After using the pool for 30 years, it came as quite a shock to the Piranhas when they
00:19 were left in the dark, practically overnight, with little knowledge of how long the pool
00:23 would be closed.
00:25 This meant that while it was, they had to improvise, looking for pools elsewhere they
00:29 could travel to each week, putting some strain on their ability to plan sessions.
00:34 Thankfully the centre was bought out by a new management provider, and the team were
00:38 able to start practising again.
00:40 I spoke to their head coach to see how the club was managing after the struggle of not
00:44 having a pool for so long.
00:46 "Yeah, when the pool shut, everybody was basically devastated and wondering what was
00:51 going to happen.
00:52 We're only a small club compared to others, we only swim at this venue, but a lot of clubs
00:57 swim elsewhere.
00:58 So, it was great, once we got the news that Active Leisure were going to be taking over,
01:05 well everyone active should I say, would be taking over, and we could get back in the
01:09 pool and they could start training again.
01:11 Everyone was really pleased with that."
01:14 Now that the swimmers are back, they're keen to show off their exercises, such as
01:18 practising their dives, which would give them an advantage off the mark in competitions,
01:22 as well as the cup exercise, where they balance a cup with some water inside on their foreheads.
01:28 This strengthens their neck and makes sure they are keeping their head far enough above
01:31 the water during backstrokes.
01:34 The club is also home to two members of the Kent Swim England Development Squad, which
01:38 is an association to give young swimmers a pathway to representing England in certain
01:43 aquatic disciplines.
01:45 The scheme is open to 51 clubs that practise a variety of sports, including diving, open
01:50 water swimming, para swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo.
01:54 Eden Bridge Piranhas is one such club, and after winning the Kent Junior League Sea Cup
01:59 earlier this year, the club are ecstatic to have their facilities back.
02:03 I spoke to the Piranhas development swimmers themselves about their beloved club and the
02:08 aspirations they had for the future.
02:09 "Do you have any aspirations to swim professionally one day?"
02:13 "Yes I would like to do that, but I would also like to get a job and do other stuff
02:19 like that."
02:20 "How did it feel when you heard that the pool would be able to be used again?"
02:23 "I was very, very excited because I hadn't been in the swim for so long."
02:27 "It felt amazing, I was so happy that we could train again and see all my friends again.
02:31 Also, knowing that you can go back to training towards your goals is really motivational."
02:38 Not only is swimming a good sport for health, fitness and competitions, it's also good
02:43 for safety, with the Piranhas swimming several times over the week and becoming stronger
02:47 swimmers every session.
02:49 Looking at the Eden Bridge Piranhas now, you would not believe that in March they had nowhere
02:53 to practice.
02:54 Now it seems to the parents and to the swimmers that it was all water under the bridge.
02:59 Finn McDermott for KMTV