SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre marks fifth birthday

The SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre is today marking its fifth birthday offering a range of discounted family and child-oriented activities including the hour-long 'Inflatable Challenge', entertainments and giveaways.

Opened at a cost of $100 million in 2011, the facility replaced Sydney as the home of Australia's Olympic swimming selection trials in advance of the 2012 Olympics.

Earlier this month it hosted the 2016 Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships, with multiple world records set and a new generation of swimming stars taking spots in Australia's Olympic swimming team.

In 2015, the venue hosted pool events for the 2015 Pacific School Games, while it will host the Australian Short Course Championships in 2017 and the Rescue 2018 Lifesaving World Championships.

The facility is also a popular location for casual and elite swimming programs, fitness and a range of leisure water attractions, and its water quality has also been frequently praised.

However, the facility has also faced a range of issues with its north-east facing glass wall and resultant glare on the water creating difficulties for lifeguards while a chlorine leak in 2011 shut down the pool and hospitalised three people.

With its builder, Candetti Constructions, collapsing at the end of 2011, numerous contractors on the project went unpaid.

This included Melbourne-based architects Peddle Thorp who set about suing the South Australian Government over non-payment of $500,000 in design fees, lodging a statement of claim in the South Australian Supreme Court in December 2013.

While the South Australian Government denied liability, Peddle Thorp cited their repeatedly having advised the South Australian Government against using Candetti because of the company's lack of expertise and resources for such a project.

Neither the office of South Australian Minister for Tourism Minister and Minister for Recreation and Sport Leon Bignell or facility manager, the YMCA, responded to requests to indicate the Centre’s achievements during its five years of operations and contribute to this news item.

However, in 2014 Minister Bignell said in a press statement that the Centre had become one of the country’s best aquatic sports venues since it opened in 2011.

He stated “it has already successfully hosted national events such as the 2012 Australian Swimming Championships and the FINA World Junior Diving Championships.

“So far Events South Australia has secured 16 events at the centre, helping it to generate almost $14 million for the state’s economy."

For more information on the Centre's birthday celebrations go to www.saaquatic.ymca.org.au/news/our-5th-birthday-party.html

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