Canberra's oldest swimming club will return home after more than two years of closures forced the club to relocate.
The 50-metre pool at the Gungahlin Leisure Centre will open next week after COVID-19 closures and repairs plagued the centre since March 2020.
Canberra Amateur Swimming Club, founded in the 1930s, will return to the pool from Monday after sharing facilities at Canberra Olympic Pool for two years.
President Karl Willett said the reopening was a "huge relief" for the club.
"The club has really struggled since the pool closed over two years ago. We've lost quite a quite a few families and swimmers to other clubs over the last couple of years," he said.
"We're very down on numbers and looking forward to building it back up again.
"The club has trophies in the cabinet that are dedicated to guys who died in World War II who were members. So we struggled seeing it going downhill so fast, just through a lack of having a pool. It brought a tear to my eye when we finally got that date saying we could get back."
The young swimmers will also start under the guidance of Tracey Menzies who coached five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe from 2002 to his retirement in 2006.
The pool was controversially closed after its tiles started to fall off. An exact cause was not determined as to why but there were a combination of issues including problems with the grouting and the construction of the tiles.
The ACT government had to fork out $1.5 million to replace all the tiles in the pool, which was only built in 2014.
Centre manager Nicole Edney said staff were excited to welcome the community back after so long.
In addition to the tiles, new lane ropes and dive blocks have also been installed.
"You'll visually be able to see a difference when you come through the doors. It's going to look like a brand new pool," Ms Edney said.
Sports Minister Yvette Berry first announced on Facebook that the pool will open to the public on August 27. The day would be marked with a family fun opening day allowing people to try out several activities the centre offers. More details will be announced on the centre's Facebook page on Friday.
The government was forced to accept a $400,000 payout to cut ties with the builder of the $28.7 million centre, despite knowing it would not be enough to cover the pool's repair bill.
The pool was first closed in March 2020 as part of the initial COVID lockdown but did not reopen due to repairs. It was initially set to open in December last year but was delayed due to further lockdowns.
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