Sport & recreation  |  28 Sep 2022

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Twelve months on from its opening, Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool is proving a big hit with the local community.

“We wanted Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool to be a place where individuals and families, community groups and school children could come together to connect, to swim, to play, and to learn and that is exactly what it has become,’’ says Christchurch City Council Head of Recreation, Sports and Events Nigel Cox.

More than 135,000 people have splashed in the pools and about 8000 workouts have been sweated out with the fitness team.

Thousands have benefitted from Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool’s swim education programmes while countless manus have been executed, to varying degrees of success, in the $22 million facility’s purpose built manu pool.

Many people have also made use of the community rooms that are available for hire for meetings and private gatherings.

“It has been fantastic to see so many people making use of the facility – it really has become an important focal point for the residents of Linwood, Woolston and the surrounding suburbs,’’ Mr Cox says.

Te Poe Toetoe: Linwood Pool's manu pool has seen lots of action over the past 12 months.

“Through a partnership with YCD we have been able to host monthly pool parties for the local community. Entry to the pools is free and there is kai and music. These pool parties, which have been made possible through Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa funding, have been a great way to support wellbeing in the local community.’’

Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool also hosted some of Tangata Ata Motu Trust’s fitness fiesta in November 2021 and a month-long fitness initiative for Pasifika in July 2022.

“The Women’s Wednesday sessions at Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool have been a great success, with attendance at the sessions surpassing all our expectations. Some of the women attending the sessions have not been able to access pools much, if at all, over their lifetimes so it has opened up new experiences for them,’’ Mr Cox says.

“Recently the Women’s Wednesday sessions won a Merit Award for Aquatics Innovation from Recreation Aotearoa. It was recognition of the positive outcomes of providing a session for women who may prefer to swim in a women-only environment.’’

That is not the only award Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool has picked up in the past 12 months.

The complex, which was built for the Council by Apollo Projects, also won the gold award in the tourism and leisure category of the construction industry’s New Zealand Commercial Project Awards.

“It has been a great first year for Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool and we are excited for what the future holds for this wonderful community facility,’’ Mr Cox says.

A Zumba party and a free Bubbletimes session for the little ones will be held on Friday 30 September and Saturday 1 October to celebrate Te Pou Toetoe: Linwood Pool’s first birthday.