The Sea Point swimming pool is praised as one of the world’s top ten swimming pools by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.
The description on The Guardian’s website reads: ‘The Pavilion swimming pools in Cape Town are a local institution. You swim your lengths while watching super tankers moored alongside twirl on their anchors. Sometimes surf from the cold Atlantic Benguela current washes over the deck.’
“This is a great accolade for Cape Town and reaffirms our commitment to providing top quality public facilities where people can enjoy time with friends and family outdoors. The Sea Point swimming pool is one of our prize facilities and is an extremely popular destination for both tourists and locals,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Special Projects, Alderman Belinda Walker.
During the peak summer season (October to February) the swimming pool attracts up to 60 000 visitors over the period and more than 20 000 visitors per month in December and January. The swimming pool can accommodate up to 1 300 people at a time.
On any given day in summer you’ll find a colourful mix of locals and tourists soaking up the sun, professional and recreational swimmers ploughing up and down the pool, and people of all ages frolicking in the water.
The facility is open throughout the year, and a handful of Capetonians persevere with their training throughout winter, even when water temperatures drop to about 12 degrees Celsius. According to his blog, long-distance swimmer, Theodore Yach, does his best training at the Sea Point swimming pool.
Over the coming months, the City will spend R3 million on upgrading the Sea Point pool. Work will include essential maintenance to ensure that this pool remains a world-class facility: repairing the existing rim flows, reinforcing expansion joints, fibre lining the pool, and tiling of the steps.
