Town buzzing for swim championships
Almost 3000 people from throughout country Victoria will converge on Warragul over the Australia Day weekend.
Over three days - Friday, January 25 to Sunday, January 27 - the town’s new outdoor 50 metre swimming pool at the Warragul Leisure Centre will host this year’s Victorian country swimming championships.
On a long weekend when many local people usually go away for a final a short summer break the town will be buzzing with an influx.
Virtually all accommodation in the district has been booked for the expected 900 competitors and more than twice as many family, friends and swimming officials.
Warragul swimming club president Toni Halloran-Lavelle said the Warragul swimming club would be well represented in championships events with many members meeting Swimming Victoria qualifying times in a wide range of race distances.
She said it was an honour for Warragul and Gippsland Swimming to be chosen as hosts by Swimming Victoria.
Warragul now has one of the best competitive swimming facilities in country Victoria including electronic timing touch pads at both ends of the pool and the latest style starting blocks, Ms Halloran-Lavelle said, adding that the club had worked closely with Baw Baw shire council from the planning stages to ensure the new pool complied with Swimming Victoria requirements for major competitions.
Four temporary grandstands will be erected to accommodate spectators and the shire had approved use of an adjoining vacant block of land for the many competing clubs to erect marquees for competitors and officials.
Part of the car park at the Leisure Centre will be a food court with Ms Halloran-Lavelle stating that several local businesses would set up food and drink stalls.
The indoor pool will be used by the swimmers for warm-ups and warm-downs.
Ms Halloran-Lavelle said spectators from the immediate region were welcome on any of the days with a small admission charge to apply.
The Leisure Centre will be closed for public use during the three-days of the swimming titles but centre members and those enrolled in swimming lessons can use their passes to gain admission to the other council operated pools in the shire at Drouin, Trafalgar, Neerim South, Rawson and Thorpdale.