Water, water everywhere, but not a pool to swim in

The UAE Swimming Association's (UAESA) plans to promote their sport is being hampered by lack of facilities. International stars are willing to guide the swimmers here and top teams are ready to swim but the association does not have the basic facility...an Olympic-size swimming pool.

"We have not been able to market the sport. We can attract more people to the sport by hosting international competitions. Unfortunately, we do not have a Olympic-size pool to stage such events," stated Khalid Ali Shehail, Director General of the UAESA to the Gulf News.

First formed as the UAE Swimming Federation in 1974, the organisation is one of the oldest sporting bodies in the country. For years it has been battling lack of facilities despite being a member of the FINA, Asian, Arab federations as well as the GCC Organising Committee.

"We have been depending on pools at Al Jazira Club, American University and Sharjah University to host our competitions. But these places do not allow us to display sponsorship hoardings by which we can generate money.

"There are plans to build a competitive pool at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi but till then we will not be able to implement our plans," said Khalid.

Mark Foster, the world record holder in 50m freestyle and butterfly events, recently expressed his willingness to coach UAE swimmers. "We were surprised that such a famous swimmer was willing to help us. We want to bring him here once we get our facilities ready," added Khalid.

The UAESA officials who attended the Asian Federation meeting recently have been offered the chance to host the Asian championship. Plans are also afoot to stage a Gulf Competition next year.

"However, we are yet to find a venue for these events," Khalid admitted. There are 12 swimming clubs registered with the UAESA but most of them do not have a pool.

"Only three clubs, Al Ain, Al Jazira and Sharjah Club have good swimming pools. There are over 3,000 registered swimmers but only 500 of them are actively practising in the UAE," added Khalid.

"Most of the youngsters take to football. They want to be stars and earn good money. Unfortunately swimmers here can neither be stars nor make money. We need to give them more exposure. We can only do this by bringing in international stars to compete in big events. Our swimmers may then want to emulate them," he said.

Foster, during his discussions with UAESA officials, suggested that international swimming meets can be hosted in a portable swimming pool. The Olympic standard pool can be fixed in any location, and stands for the spectators can be built around the pool.

"We have heard about such a possibility for the first time. We have learnt that such a pool was erected recently in Brazil and it was a big success. We don't know whether we can erect such a pool in our weather conditions. However, we are planning to look into it soon," said Khalid.

Despite lack of exposure, a UAE swimmer participated in last year's Olympics and many youngsters have been competing at the GCC and Pan Arab competitions.

Khuwaiter Saeed Al Dhari also won a gold medal at the Pan Arab Games in Lebanon. The UAESA wants to make tours abroad on a reciprocal basis but lack of a good pool here has prevented them from inviting any country.

"The Syrian national team has trained here. We have accommodated them and arranged for their training in Al Mamzar and the American University.

"If we have our own pool we can invite more teams and our swimmers will also be able to go abroad and train," Khalid said.