CATBALOGAN CITY- A very ingenious way for the city government to have a swimming pool where children could learn how to swim and in the process, help bring medals and honors for the city.
Last week a “floating” swimming pool or a “swimming pool at the sea” was formally opened located in Barangay Cagutsan, one of the seven island villages of Catbalogan City that lie along the Sierra Islands.
The Olympic-size swimming pool at the sea is the first in the region and is second in the entire country.
The unique facility was constructed primarily to hone young swimmers in Catbalogan and in the process, bring medals for the city.
The “swimming pool at the sea” was conceptualized by Cristito Eco, head of the city schools division in Catbalogan City.
Eco was inspired to come up with the said facility after he saw one in Panabo City which served as the host of the 2015 Palarong Pambansa.
According to Eco, putting up a floating swimming in the middle of a sea is more economical for the city to construct as it only cost less compare to constructing a regular swimming pool which costs around a million pesos.
The city government only spent P400,000 for the putting up of the floating swimming pool which has nine lanes and a submerged wall needed for swimmers when they do their laps.
“Our budget is not enough to construct and maintain a standard swimming pool unlike the floating swimming pool which has a lesser budget,” Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said.
The city mayor added that they chose to put the floating swimming pool in Sierra Island because based on their record, most of the medal winners from their city in swimming competitions at the city athletics and from the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletics Association are students from the island.
“The city is very supportive of training local athletes to become more competitive,” the city mayor said.
Mayor Uy-Tan added that the facility will not only help train swimmers from the city but will also increase the eco-tourism potential of Sierra Island. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
