Local Olympian tours aquatic centre project

With tonnes of big steel arriving on site and starting to go up the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre has already seen its first Olympian enter the pool.

Bundaberg’s star swimmer Isaac Cooper was in town and was the first visitor in the pool after taking the opportunity to tour the construction site.

There was plenty of action to impress, with a shipment of big steel arriving on site and, as it’s being erected around the three new pools, starting to give an idea of the enormity of the aquatic centre building.

To date, construction figures for aquatic centre project include:

• 8,345 lineal meters of concrete pile driven
• Approximately 3,500 cubic meters of concrete poured on site
• Approximately 600 tonne of structural and reinforcement steel installed on site

Isaac, who was in town to visit with local swimmers and keep in touch with his former club, said he was excited to see the aquatic centre delivered.

“It’s going to be great for the overall health of Bundaberg … people can come in here and use this on a daily basis just to keep fit,” Isaac said.

“There will also be a better environment as well for athletes who are looking to come through and to break through.

“Bundaberg is where I made my first nationals, broke my first national record got my first national gold so there are definitely athletes who have a lot of potential here and now they have better facilities to help get on the front leg with their careers.

“We have training camps leading into big competitions all the time and at the moment we’ve been outsourcing them to places like Mackay or Townsville.

“We’ve done one here before in Bundaberg as well but, now that we’ve got this new pool coming in, I’m definitely going to be suggesting this place.”

Mayor Jack Dempsey was pleased to invite the rising swimming star to tour the new Bundaberg Aquatic Centre.

“It’s wonderful to see this fantastic facility through the eyes of a successful Bundaberg Region sporting product and Isaac certainly has experience swimming in some of the best facilities around the country and the world,” Mayor Dempsey said.

“Walking down into the new Olympic pool was awe-inspiring and really gives you a new perspective on how impressive this centre will be.

“The rehabilitation and learn to swim pools were equally impressive and we could see the work being undertaken to develop accessible features like ramp access which are another highlight of this modern facility.”

Bundaberg Olympian tours aquatic centre

Isaac said it was the first time he’d been in a pool that wasn’t filled in with water.

“Standing in it I can almost envision what it would be like if it was full of water and there were people in the stadium and, you know, a bunch of my friends are here racing again,” he said.

“So it’s quite a surreal feeling for me to be here but I’m really looking forward to seeing how it develops.”

Work continues on the aquatic centre project with the focus of construction now on completing the remainder of the reinforced concrete concourse slabs, columns and masonry walls followed by erecting the pre-fabricated steel for the facility’s main roof structure over the three pools.

Find our more about the Aquatic Centre project, including FAQs, on the project page.