Hopes Olympic-sized pool for Cork could be operational by 2026

The northside club behind a plan to build an Olympic-sized 50m swimming pool on the outskirts of the city are aiming to have it open and in use by January 2026 at an estimated cost of between €7m and €13m.

Dolphin Swimming Club representative Mick McCormack told The Echo that the club has already purchased a modular swimming pool which had been used when the Commonwealth Games were held in Birmingham in 2022 and that the structure is in storage in a facility in Cork at present having been transported to the city in May by a benefactor who donated four lorries to pick it up and bring it back.

While the swimming pool, complete with all the necessary filtration, heating, lighting and other equipment, has been secured, and Cork County Council has offered a leasehold on a piece of land on the outskirts of the city which has been earmarked for sports use, the club has launched a Go Fund Me campaign to raise the €100,000 it will cost to prepare an application for planning permission to build the pool.

According to Mr McCormack, the pool which came from Birmingham was originally a six lane 50m pool but now they’ve bought other units from the manufacturer so it will be a 10 lane 50m pool when complete.

“The pool itself won’t take that long to build, it could be constructed within around 12 weeks which is mad,” he said. “Our club turns 125 years old in 2026, we are hopeful that we are in training, the whole thing fully operational by January 2026.” 

The club is also seeking grant aid funding and, given Ireland’s success in the swimming pool at the Paris Olympics, Mr McCormack is optimistic that these applications stand a good chance of success.

“After winning three medals at the Olympics, if we can’t build a 50m swimming pool in Cork now, where we could hold national and international competitions, we will never build it,” he said.

He pointed to Northern Ireland where there are three Olympic sized swimming pools which were used by both Daniel Wiffen and Mona McSharry and gave instances of Dolphin Swimming Club members who were travelling long distances daily or a few times a week at least to use Munster’s only Olympic-sized pool in the University of Limerick.

“In the last couple of days we’ve had amazing offers from architects and pool designers to come on board and do it for free for us as well so we’re looking at all those still,” he said. “We’ve had offers from people to help with construction and everything else and we’ve been blown away by the offers we’ve had in the last few days.

“People see this as an iconic project and it will be iconic project for Cork because we’re looking at doing the full Olympic sized swimming pool, hosting national and international competitions, having a national performance centre in Cork but, also, a performance centre that’s owned by a swimming club whose main interest is getting people swimming, whether they’re a club member, an open water swimmer, a triathlete or just someone there for fitness and leisure.

“I’m a PE teacher, aquatics is a huge part of the PE strand in secondary schools so it’s in my interest as well to get as many young people swimming, fit and active, that’s all we want – it will be great for the club and amazing for Cork.”