Actually, that’s good news: The Spickelbad in Augsburg is to be renovated. The city’s public swimming pools are in poor condition, and many people from Augsburg go swimming in the surrounding districts. Now, however, the renovation of the so-called Plärrerbad has been completed, with the Spickelbad, the indoor swimming pool with the largest capacity is to come next. This basically benefits the public and also the swimming clubs, but this also creates serious problems for the clubs: If the spickelbad with its six swimming lanes and a teaching pool as a practice area fails, the swimming clubs lose 40 percent of the total available over two to three years Water surface in Augsburg away. Because of the space problems, the clubs are demanding a 50-meter indoor pool – now a creative solution should help.
The discussion about a 50-meter indoor pool has been smoldering for years. While even small communities provide such pools, Augsburg is, according to CSU city councilor Bernd Zitzelsberger, the only city of its size in Germany that does not offer such a sports facility at all. For the clubs, this is tantamount to a disaster because of the renovations, because the members run away from them and fewer and fewer people can swim anyway – which in turn is criticized by the water rescue service and rescue services. A detailed investigation should therefore clarify how and where an indoor swimming pool with a 50-meter pool can be created. According to the administration, however, it is unclear within what period of time the construction of a new 50-meter indoor swimming pool can be realized. As a bridging solution, an air dome could therefore cover a 50-meter-long outdoor pool in winter.
“As a priority, we need a 50-meter indoor swimming pool in Augsburg, including a teaching pool, as the next swimming pool project,” said a letter from the Delphin 03 Augsburg swimmers’ association to sports advisor Jürgen Enninger. Those in charge of the largest and oldest swimming club in Swabia see considerable restrictions for the public and swimming training at schools, clubs and water rescue organizations as a result of the renovation of the existing indoor swimming pools. Even before Corona, there were long waiting times of up to a year for swimming courses. Since three swimming course cycles were canceled due to the pandemic, there is currently a significantly higher demand. The Swimmer Association Delphin 03 also refers to the complaints of the water rescue service and rescue services that fewer and fewer people, especially young people, can swim and so the number of swimming accidents is increasing.
Taylan Toprak, chairman of the Augsburg swimming club in 1911, paints an even darker picture. His club has a history of more than 100 years, writes Toprak, who also wrote to the members of the Augsburg Sports Committee. But now the water polo sport is on the brink – Augsburg 1911 is the only club in the city that offers something like this. The establishment of the water polo youth groups in particular has cost a lot of work and effort in recent years. “We currently see this delicate success in acute danger!” Writes Toprak with an exclamation mark. Of course, his association will also benefit “in the long term” from the renovation of the Spickelbad. “But in order to avoid a further blatant decline in membership and to counter the death of an entire sport in Augsburg, I urge you in my function as the board of directors to examine all possibilities first to create a replacement water area.”
The city wants to pursue the so-called master plan baths and thus the renovation of the Spickelbad in a timely manner. The efforts to build a 50-meter pool should not bring the renovations to a standstill, said sports advisor Enninger. Therefore, detailed studies of such a building should advance the planning – and possibly help an air dome as an interim solution. CSU City Councilor Bernd Zitzelsberger, who, as the head of the swimming department at Post SV Augsburg, advocates a 50-meter indoor pool, came up with the idea of roofing over the 50-meter outdoor pool in the Bärenkeller district. This would cost an average five-figure amount per year and would preserve the necessary water surface – also for the water polo players – during the renovation of the spa pool. The majority of the city council agreed that this would be an acceptable solution for proceeding with the necessary renovation of the bathrooms. Nevertheless, one should not give the associations any illusions that such a solution could actually be implemented. However, if the city council agrees, the city should examine the feasibility of the proposal at the end of July.