Harrogate District Diving Club has said the looming nine-month closure of Harrogate Hydro will be worth the short-term disruption.
The club, which has more than 50 members and helped produce Olympic champion Jack Laugher, faces the prospect of not being able to return to its home pool until next year. The Hydro is due to close for major refurbishment on April 8.
Some divers will train at other venues, including Shipley diving pool. Others will stop training altogether until the Hydro reopens. Since the announcement of the Hydro’s closure two divers have left the club.
Divers can also use Jennyfield Styan Community Centre for dry land sessions using a full size diving board. These sessions allow divers to dive off the board onto a crash mat.
Harrogate Hydro, Jennyfield Drive.
The diving boards have not been in use since November 2020 due to structural problems.
The renovation work will include new diving facilities at the same heights as before. Club chair Leanne Jalland said:
“We welcome the closure and renovations, whilst it is not ideal to be away from the pool in the short-term. The current diving facilities were at the end of their life and needed to be replaced.
“A little short-term disruption without a pool while the new diving facilities are being rebuilt is worth it because the new facilities secure the future of diving in Harrogate for a few more decades.”
Ms Jalland added the club had been preparing for a loss in funds due to the work and had secured funding from Sport England to fund hiring space at other diving venues.
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She said:
“We are passionate about introducing more children in our community to diving and while the Hydro is closed that will not stop. Considering that during the start of the pandemic we only had a dozen divers left, we’ve managed to grow the club considerably during a difficult time period with limited facilities and resources.
“So imagine what we can do with our new facility. We can’t wait for next year, the future is looking bright for our club.”
The £11.8 million refurbishment will give the Hydro a new two-storey extension, entrance, cafe and reception area.
There will also be a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.
Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, which Harrogate Borough Council set up last year to run its leisure facilities, said the plan was to reopen the pool first in nine months time.
