It has finally reopened its doors. The swimming pool of Châteauneuf-du-Faou (Finistère) had been closed since 2015. After a year of work and 5.6 million euros, it welcomed its first young swimmers this Friday, January 28, 2022.
Two 6th grade classes from the town were able to enjoy a preview of this brand new swimming pool. A pleasure for these college students to find their way back to the pools. “It’s too good”“it makes you want to come back”, “It’s been a long time since I last swam”. Everyone is happy to put on bathing caps and diving goggles.
Encourage vocations and do prevention
Especially since at the edge of the pool, there is a teacher like no other. It is Olympic champion Alain Bernard who takes on this role. “They are full of energy”, laughs the former swimmer. On the program, simple exercises but it pays off. “Even those who weren’t comfortable at first gain confidence.” And that’s the goal. Bring the children back to the pools, “raise vocations” and they feel “safe in the water”. “It is important that there are swimming pools in these territories”he explains.
A feeling shared by the PE teachers who supervise the outing, like Caroline Laroche. “We are in a city near a canal, near the sea. The children often go to the beach. to be able to save himself, or save if necessary.” Drowning prevention, also a motivation for Alain Bernard. “Many children do not know how to swim at their age, it is absurd in France, in 2022”. Every year, children account for more than a quarter of the 1,000 fatal drownings.
A legacy of the 2024 Olympics
The fight against drowning is also one of the priorities of the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu. Also present for the reopening of the Châteauneuf-du-Faou swimming pool, she wanted to highlight the importance of get kids back to swimming pools after two years of pandemic. “These are habits, gestures that we lose very quickly”, she laments.
The swimming pool has been partly renovated with funds from France relaunchand is also part of the programs set up under the 2024 Olympic Games. Although no event is taking place in Brittany, the Minister sees in these new infrastructures a “Legacy of the Games”, both material, with local infrastructures, and immaterial, with a link between clubs and people, with a reinforced practice of swimming. “Here, it is the Breton swimming league which will have control over the infrastructures. It’s a mark of trust, it’s a first.”