Rumours can take on a life of their own.
And usually, it doesn't matter if they're true or not.
Such is the case with the size of the pool in the Cranbrook Aquatic Centre in Western Financial Place.
The rumour, which has floated around for a while, is that the pool is not long enough to hold competitive swim meets and doesn't meet the 25-metre requirement.
Imagine the embarrassment for the City of Cranbrook in building a pool that is considered short for sanctioned meets.
That is simply not true, according to Dave Chisholm, the president of the Cranbrook Tritons Swim Club.
It took some good ol’ fashioned legwork as Corinna Robinson, a parent who has kids in the Tritons program, to put the rumour to rest.
She took a tape measure and walked the length of the pool, which came out to — surprise, surprise — 25 metres.
“I took a tape measure and did measure it out and it is, indeed, 25-metres with actually about an inch to spare,” said Robinson, “so we’re hoping that the swim club can get some touch pads and they can fit in so the pool can still be the regulatory 25-metres.”
So what prompted the rumour start that the pool was too short to hold sanctioned swim meets?
“I don’t know where the rumour started,” said Chisholm. “… It’s not an issue, in my mind anyway.”
Even though it was the B.C. Winter Games, the pool was measured by officials back in 2008 and would’ve been fine for competition.
While the Tritons haven’t hosted a swim meet at the Aquatic Centre, there are plans in the works, according to Chisholm. However, the main goal has been to grow the club before that happens.
“We really haven’t hosted a meet because we haven’t had a number of competitive swimmers, where I felt comfortable that we could host a meet,” said Chisholm. “It was never anything to do with the size of the pool — we’ve just been trying to grow the club.”
And in that regard, things are looking up, as far as numbers go.
“It’s good,” added Chisholm. “We’re getting more competitive swimmers, higher-quality competitive swimmers.”
The club is heading to Fernie next weekend for a meet and is also heading to Lethbridge in May.
The club is holding a fundraiser at the Heidout on May 6, starting at 6:30. Tickets are $20 and are available by calling Robinson at 250-464-4134.