No sooner had her slim, torpedo-shaped body hit the water for the first time inside Windsor’s new Family Aquatic Complex than competitive swimmer Leili Tilvaldyeva knew she was lapping toward a personal best.
“It’s a fast pool … the water just carries you through,” said the 16-year-old competitor with the Windsor Essex Swim Team.
“There will be records here,” said Tilvaldyeva.
There appeared little doubt of the record-breaking potential among the athletes granted first access Thursday to the natatorium, the competitive portion of the city’s new $78-million aquatic facility. Two local swim clubs held an inaugural meet to test the waters ahead of the International Children’s Games in two weeks.
“This is a big deal for us — we’ve been drooling for a pool like this for years,” said Windsor’s Matthew Laschuk. “I think it’s spectacular, it’s just a wonderful facility,” he added.
Laschuk, 23, swam competitively for almost a dozen years. He raced at the senior nationals and studied at, and competed for, Wayne State University on an athletic scholarship.
Saying he was owed a few laps on opening day, Laschuk emerged from the wet agreeing with others that Windsor has a speedy pool.
“I think you’re going to see a lot faster swimming … that means more scholarships,” he said.
“You can just feel the excitement in the air,” said Windsor Aquatic Club head coach Jeff Cowan. At times it looked like the coaches were trying to herd cats as their young charges ooh’ed and aah’ed inside the cavernous natatorium with bulkheads used to carve the 50-metre competition area from the 71-metre-long total pool surface.
“This is built for high-level competition,” said WEST head coach Andrei Semenov. With more than 200 swimmers in his club, he said the new facility will allow him “a chance to see my team in the same location” rather than split up among several small city pools.
Semenov and others are confident that when word gets out that Windsor has a fast pool, more local swimmers will be drawn to the sport, and more outside competitors will want to visit to challenge their own best times.
A number of technical and design features have been included to make swimming faster in the new facility, whose pool was built by the same Italian company which built the Beijing Olympic pool that saw numerous records shattered in 2008.
“It’s totally awesome, it’s amazing — above and beyond anything we’ve raced in,” said parent Jackie Parker, whose kids, ages nine and 15, are WEST competitors.
“This is phenomenal — we’ve been to many pools — this exceeds all of them,” said WAC vice-president Teresa Tennant, whose 10-year-old daughter raced on Thursday.
Judges, timers and technical support staff watched from the sidelines, a number of them seated behind computer screens inside the “electronics room” where race times, rankings, live broadcasting and instant replays were posted near-instantly on the giant twin 18X11-foot colour video screens.
“Our job is done — it’s nice to see the end game here,” said London’s Richard Deakin of International Pool Contractors, who was one of a number of construction workers who took in some of the inaugural action from the sidelines of what is still a work in progress. Deakin, who commissions such facilities, spent the past three weeks training city staff on the operational aspects of the five-million-litre pool.
After Thursday’s one-day meet, the competitive pool closed down until Aug. 14 and the International Children’s Games with its 278 swim event athletes. It closes down again after that to allow for completion of the adjacent fun park with its slides and rides. The scheduled public opening is in December.
The swimmers were greeted by Mayor Eddie Francis, who told them he’d just returned from the FINA world championships in Spain where international delegates told him they looked forward to visiting Windsor in 2016 for the FINA 25-metre worlds.
To the critics — which Francis said represent a small minority of Windsorites — Ward 1 Coun. Drew Dilkens, who chairs the aquatic complex build committee, said: “Come and see it for yourself.”
“These are the facilities the community expects … this helps build the profile of the city, therefore it helps in the job of economic development,” said Dilkens, who managed to take a dip himself before the onslaught of the athletes.
“I don’t think people understand how much traffic will come to Windsor based on swimming,” said WAC’s Tennant. Her club hosts the first swim event Dec. 13 to 15, when an estimated more than 850 swimmers and coaches are expected for a Team Champs meet.
Francis, who recently announced a slew of upcoming high-profile swim gatherings, is working on attracting a number of others, while WEST’s Semenov said there will be plenty more. He said the May 2-4, 2014, Amanda Reason Invitational has sold out, with more than 1,000 swimmers expected, while a previously unannounced WEST international meet, running July 12-14, 2014, with teams from across North America and and Caribbean, is also sold out and expected to draw a similar number.
Unlike with the start-up of the WFCU Centre, Francis said it’s been a “pleasant surprise” to see how quickly the Family Aquatic Complex has been filling its calendar with special events, “and we’re not even open yet.”
dschmidt@windsorstar.com or on Twitter: @schmidtcity
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