First splash in St Catherine’s new pool!
The new St Catherine’s Sports and Aquatic Centre has received its first splash with School sisters, Georgie and Jessie Gleeson, donning their togs for the inaugural ‘First Swim’.
Having watched the building and construction of the state of the art facility from their classrooms over the past year, Year 7 student, Georgie and Year 8 student, Jessie, became the first students to wet their toes in the new pool on Thursday 28 April, signalling the opening of the pool.
The ‘First Swim’ was won at a St Catherine’s fundraising auction by Georgie and Jessie’s mother and past student of the School, Louise Lampard. The School community has demonstrated their united spirit over the past 18 months, joining together to raise the funds for the building of the Centre. A contribution to the new facility has also been made by the Federal Government through the Building the Education Revolution (BER) grant.
The new St Catherine’s Sports and Aquatic Centre features indoor and outdoor sports facilities, a 25 metre pool with six lanes sized for squad training, a learners' pool, 1 metre diving board, training room and a flexible classroom for health and physical education.
The Centre is also leading the way in Environmental Sustainable Design (ESD), incorporating environmentally cutting-edge cogeneration (CHP or Combined Heat and Power Plant) technology, which will allow the building to produce its own electricity to run the pool and heat the Centre, radically reducing CO2 output.