Like so many fellow residents of the troubled seaside town, Kaikoura’s swimmers have become adept at taking the good with the bad.

The bad happened on November 14, 2016, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake put the town’s community pool out of commission.

Since the 1960s the well-utilised “Lions Pool”, situated on the Marine Parade beachfront, had been a base for the town’s swimming club and an ideal training facility for all the town’s competitive swimmers, including primary and secondary school students.

A resident’s survey in January, 2017, suggested getting a new pool was top of the priority list as the town sought to rebuild its sporting infrastructure and, with full funding from Sport New Zealand, Sport Tasman arranged a feasibility study to investigate building a new pool complex was undertaken.

Its recommendations were made public in October, underlining a preferred option of a 25 metre, six-lane indoor pool, with a learner pool and a toddlers play attached.

The recommendations were accepted by the Kaikoura District Council and now the Earthquake Recovery Leadership team is investigating an appropriate site. A fundraising team has also been formed.

Sport Tasman CEO Nigel Muir, who is part of the steering group says getting a pool built is a key priority for Kaikoura. “In smaller regions like Kaikoura, Pools become key community centres for youth, adults, disabled and the elderly – this pool is a must. It will make a major difference to people’s lives”.

In the meantime, the resilient attitude of the local swimming fraternity, plus some surprising and timely financial assistance, has come to the fore.

With the “Lions Pool” taken out of the equation, two main options remained.

Foremost was the 14 metre-long covered Kaikoura Primary School pool, miraculously undamaged in the quake but too shallow for competition dives and turns. It received a major boost in October 2017 in the form of a $10,000 grant from an anonymous donor in Christchurch, allowing the primary school to add a new heat pump to their pool, meaning it could remain open for longer periods of the year.

Added to that, in early 2017 the community were granted use of a heated “pop-up pool”, which was built beside the Kaikoura Primary School pool. The eight metre-long, covered facility gets regular visits from casual swimmers and is also utilised for junior swimming lessons. It is part of a Pools in Schoolz initiative, organised by the New Zealand Community Trust, Sport Tasman and the Kaikoura District Council, and is available as long as the community needs it.

Kaikoura Primary School principal Nigel Easson, whose school has nearly doubled its roll since the quake, is in a positive frame of mind, being thankful for what he jokingly calls their “multi-pool complex”.

“We are fortunate. We have opened up our doors [to casual and club swimmers] – it’s about making sure our school is the hub of the community … that’s really important.

“I’m looking forward to seeing a [new] pool up for the community, but at the same time I know that what we have at school at the moment is really useful for the people that are connected to it.”

Marty Pattison, president and coach of the Kaikoura Amateur Swim Club, said the absence of a full-size pool had impacted on the club’s numbers.

In the summer of 2016 they had 127 registered swimmers, with numbers falling to around 80 senior and junior members this year.

“There are quite a few of the older crew that haven’t bothered joining up this season because of the facilities we have got at the moment,” added Pattison.

“However we have a lot of youngsters, so the couple of small pools we are using are just working for them … and keeping our numbers up.”

The club had planned to use a couple of private pools at local businesses but they had not yet been repaired.

“So the Kaikoura Primary School pool and the new pop-up pool are our facilities until a new aquatics centre turns up.

“The primary school pool is a fantastic learn-to-swim pool but as [swimmers] start getting better, wanting to do lengths and turns and that sort of thing, that’s when you need a bigger pool.”

With a ratepayer base of around 1500, Kaikoura is one of the smallest areas in the country so funding support will be crucial if residents are to realise their aquatic ambitions.

Photo caption: Swim Coach Toni Batey works with pupils Maya Marshall, Tama Niblett, centre, and Oli Marshall in Kaikoura's "pop up poool". Photo credit: Peter Jones