Bhutanese athletes have started to make strides in the international arena. And the next stage may very well be in swimming. The international standard swimming pool in the capital, which is nearing completion, is expected to train and churn out professional swimmers that will compete with the very best. The swimming pool complex is expected to be ready by September this year.
Today, about 90 per cent of the construction works have been completed on the swimming pool complex located at Babena.
The construction of the complex began in late 2021 but was delayed by the covid pandemic.
The international standard complex will have an eight-lane pool with a distance of 25 meters. It will also have changing rooms, bathrooms, office space and a cafeteria.
According to the Bhutan Aquatics Federation, due to a lack of facilities, the federation has been seeing a very less number of youth coming forward to participate in national and international competitions. Training swimmers with potential for international competitions is also a challenge for the federation.
‘‘Without swimming facilities, we are sending coaches to train outside. Like-wise children are also sent outside for training. We don’t have the facilities to teach interested swimmers whether they are youth or children. Sometimes, we have no choice but to train them in hotels that have swimming pools,” said Namgyal Wangchuk, General Secretary of Bhutan Aquatics Federation.
He shared that due to the lack of training facilities in the country, two swimmers who will be taking part in the upcoming Asian Games are currently training in Thailand. They are the only two National level swimmers in the country.
But all this is expected to change once the facility becomes ready.
‘‘If we want to participate in the international tournaments we can train here in our country. Once we have the complex, we can provide trainers to train interested youth. Similarly, it will help us select those with potential if we have a training house,’’ said Namgyal Wangchuk.
The swimming pool complex will also be able to accommodate more than 200 spectators for tournaments.
The Government of India is supporting the project worth more than Nu 66 M.
The swimming complex is being constructed on an area of 6 acres which already has a skate park, a badminton stadium and an under-construction football arena.
Karma Wangdi
