HULL'S premier swimming club is facing an uncertain future after the city council revealed plans to shut its main competition venue.
Proposals to close swimming facilities at Ennerdale Leisure Centre were recently confirmed by senior councillors as part of a £1m savings programme involving the authority's sports and culture venues.
Now, they are looking at setting up an arms-length leisure company to run leisure centres, museums and the city's parks.
Long-term funding has also been set aside to help build a new leisure complex in the city centre, which would include an ice rink and a swimming pool.
But Peter Richardson, head coach and chairman of Kingston Upon Hull Swimming Club, has said club officials and members had been left "stunned" by the council's move.
"The first thing we knew about it was when it appeared in the Mail. It was a bolt out of the blue," he said.
A subsequent meeting with council officials over the issue has only fuelled more concerns over the club's future.
Mr Richardson said: "We stage 17 competitions at Ennerdale every year.
"There is no other swimming pool in Hull that even meets the criteria for staging competitions – none have any spectator facilities for a start.
"Over a year, we generate about £25,000 in income from those competitions. That money gets reinvested in the club and helps us break even financially. Without a venue, those competitions will cease and our income will fall.
"We also train at Ennerdale for about 18 to 20 hours a week.
"The council don't seem to have thought this through at all.
"If they are dead-set on closing Ennerdale then it should only happen if and when the new city centre pool is ready.
"However, we were told Ennerdale could close as early as next year, "
The club has 240 members, aged from five years old.
In the recent national junior championships, its swimmers scooped three gold medals and a bronze.
Mr Richardson said: "There is quality out there in Hull and, as a club, we help develop that quality.
"We are also proud to represent Hull in competitions but without Ennerdale and any immediate replacement, that quality and talent might start to go elsewhere."
The club has already started its own e-petition over the leisure centre's proposed closure and is planning to lobby the city's MPs.
Mr Richardson said: "We want the council to think again on this.
"Suggesting alternative pools that are not competition standard is not the answer."
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