BUILDING work has started on a new 50m swimming pool at Mount Kelly.

Construction began this summer and the pool is due to be completed by August 2016.

The bid for a 50m swimming pool was placed before London 2012 yet funding issues have delayed the process.

With the help of Sport England, it is hoped the eight lane 50m pool will help attract the best swimmers from around Britain.

Daniah Hagul, a pupil at the school, has already been chosen to represent Libya at the next Rio Olympics.

She follows a long line of Olympic and Paralympic athletes who have attended the school, such as Sharon Davies and Hannah Russell, along with many others.

Jenni Henry, swimming administrator for Mount Kelly, said: “We’ve had good swimmers over the years but only a handful at a time. We are looking to have a whole team of good swimmers.”

The school has found it testing to balance the amount of pool time for its own swimmers and accommodating the public.

“As it stands, with the four lane 25m pool, we don’t have enough time to put all the swimmers in at decent times,” Jenni added. “We’re struggling to make sure that each squad has their required amount of hours.

“We will be able to have all the squads in at the same time, and with it being a bigger pool more swimmers will be able to fit in a lane.”

The opening of the pool will benefit the local community too, with Jenni estimating that 60% of the pool time will be dedicated for public use.

“We’ve had to cancel lessons that were available to the public on a Wednesday and Thursday evening and put them on Saturday morning because it’s the only time we could fit them in.

“But with this new pool coming on board, and the existing pool, we’ll be able to have public lessons every evening at decent times.”

Currently there are no deals in place with local clubs in the area, but it seems likely that this may happen in the future.

“Even though the [Plymouth] Life Centre is a few miles away, it isn’t available for 50m training very often,” Jenni noted.“The 50m pool here would be ideal for clubs like Tavistock considering we’re in the same town.”

For more information about the Mount Kelly 50m pool project, visit www.mountkelly.com.