Canberra Olympic Pool’s dive facility. The ACT Government is being urged to commit to building a new one. Photo: Facebook.
The Commonwealth Park Aquatic Centre tender should be paused until it is clear that the proposed 50-metre pool will be indoors and the ACT Government is committed to building a new dive facility, according to the Friends of Canberra Olympic Pool (FOCOP).
The early contractor involvement tender for the $138 million facility closed on 29 January.
FOCOP says the government has yet to confirm whether a 50-metre year-round indoor Olympic Pool will be included in the project.
It says that the tender document refers only to “a 50-metre pool and outdoor splash areas” as a “key feature” of the project scope, although it also says the vision is for an all-year-round aquatic centre for swimming, sports, wellness and community life.
FOCOP President Terry Slevin said the concern was that the 50-metre pool could be outdoors, and functional for only half of the year.
“To not have an indoor 50-metre pool would be a severe reduction in the current amenity offered by the Canberra Olympic Pool,” he said.
“Regardless of any other design features and facilities available in the new Aquatic Centre, we believe a year-round 50-metre pool is an essential foundation feature and urge the government in the strongest possible terms to commit to this cornerstone amenity.”
Mr Slevin said the 50-metre year-round option was the minimum needed to accommodate the current level of demand and use at COP.
It also allowed training for competitive swimmers in all categories, from Olympic and Special Olympic standard, junior levels and triathlete training, community swimmers, aquarobics, learn to swim, scuba dive training, recreational aquatic pursuits, and much more.
Mr Slevin raised the prospect of a 25-metre indoor pool, which he said would be inadequate to meet current year-round demands.
“It would certainly be far too limited to expect to service future growth in the ACT population,” he said.
Mr Slevin said the 50-metre pool should also have 10 lanes, not eight, to cater for future demand.
The government should also commit to replacing the COP’s dive tower and deepwater pool and not close the facility until the new ones are operational.
Canberra Olympic Pool. A new pool in Commonwealth Park should also be indoor and have 10 lanes. Photo: Facebook.
Ms Slevin called on Chief Minister Andrew Barr to commit to constructing a year-round, 10-metre dive tower and a 5-metre deep water pool suitable for competitive diving and training, recreational diving, water polo, underwater rugby and underwater hockey.
“We acknowledge that there are significant cost implications for a dive pool,” he said.
“However, we urge the government to recognise the broad range of uses of the existing dive pool at COP, even if currently it’s only usable for half of the year.”
Mr Slevin said a dive pool was committed to, and then abandoned, in planning for the Stromlo Aquatic Centre, and now appeared to have an uncertain future.
He said the government should guarantee that the existing deep-dive pool and tower on the Civic site would remain open until a replacement 5-metre-deep pool and 10-metre-high dive tower were open and operating.
“We have sought a meeting with the government to explore how these two issues can be progressed constructively,” Mr Slevin said.
“But as tenders for the first contract closed on 29 January 2026, and the selection process is now underway, we call on the government to pause the entire process until these two critical issues are resolved.”
Last month, the government committed to finding an alternative site for the dive facility.
A government spokesperson said the new aquatic centre would meet the needs of as many users as possible within the available project budget and was expected to have indoor and outdoor pools.
A 50-metre indoor pool for year-round use was being prioritised in the early design process but the final scope and design had not been decided on yet.
The spokesperson said stopping the early design work now would only delay the project.
The outdoor dive facilities at Canberra Olympic pool would continue to be available until at least the end of summer 2029-2030 (eg March/April 2030).
An indoor Olympic standard competitive dive facility would be expensive, so the government was planning very carefully.
The Aquatic Strategy being developed would look at options for both competition‑standard and recreational dive facilities.
“As a minimum, outdoor dive facilities equivalent to the current Canberra Olympic pool will be provided in the Territory,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ll also use the Stromlo dive pool feasibility study to help guide those decisions.”
