Swimming Facilities In Akureyri Considered Poor

The Akureyri Swimming Pool’s facilities are falling well short of competitive standards, warns the vice-chairman of the local swimming club Odin, reports RÚV. Due to the slow pace of improvements, several competitive swimmers have already left the area, moving either to southern Iceland or abroad where they can access better training facilities.

According to Einar Már Ríkarðsson, vice-chairman of Odin, the current outdoor pool setup severely hampers the development of competitive swimming in Akureyri, Iceland’s largest town outside the capital region. He says that having an indoor pool would greatly improve facilities for elite training. It would also be much more suitable for people with disabilities to be able to train indoors.

Swimming facilities in Akureyri are far from acceptable, according to Einar Már Ríkarðsson, vice-chairman of Swimming Club Odin. This is reported on Vikublaðið’s website. He says that having an indoor pool would greatly improve facilities for elite training. It would also be much more suitable for people with disabilities to be able to train indoors.

Numerous training sessions have to be cancelled in winter due to cold weather. Einar says this is partly due to increased risk of injuries, but it’s also difficult to monitor swimmers in the steam rising from the water in the cold.

Einar says swimming is a winter sport with the competition season running from September to June. In Akureyri, however, they have had to plan competitions for autumn or spring.

It’s extremely important that improvements are made as soon as possible, stresses Einar. There has long been emphasis on the need for a 50-meter indoor pool in the town. Einar says there are examples of promising swimmers moving south or even abroad for better facilities. Parents have also expressed similar concerns about the facilities.