Ringgold Councilman Nick Millwood says the young competitive swimmers in the city need a local indoor pool to practice. Swimmers like Ringgold resident Charles Lancaster’s son travel to Dalton, Baylor School, McCallie School and Ooltewah to practice swimming in the winter.
“I talked to [North Georgia YMCA Executive Director] Mr. Donahoo to see what’s involved with this,” said Millwood at the recent Ringgold City Council meeting Oct. 27. “They partner with the YMCA of Chattanooga.”
The competitive swimming season typically runs from October through February, when it’s not as comfortable to swim outdoors. There are also stipulations that prohibit current pools from being suitable for practicing, Lancaster said.
“The pool has to be 25 yards long,” said Lancaster. “We have the one at the Rock [Fitness Center], but its not long enough and the one behind Food Lion is not regulation size. The two outdoor pools are competitive pools. We have 37 swimmers just at Heritage. We have 100 at Ringgold and 50 to 60 at Fort Oglethorpe.”
Lancaster said it would be great to get the city, county and school board to work together to bring an indoor pool to the city. Several citizens also voiced their support for a potential indoor pool at the meeting, citing health benefits and self-esteem.
City Manager Dan Wright said that Heritage High School originally had plans for an indoor pool, but it was likely too expensive.
“When Heritage High School was built they looked at it. I don’t know of any government that has $4 million to build a pool,” Wright said.
Swim parent Gary Nichols, representing the Ringgold Tiger Sharks, said an indoor pool would allow the city to host competitions, which would bring in thousands of swimmers and their families and generate revenue to help pay for the pool.
“Indoor pools are expensive,” said Nichols, who is professionally an engineer. “If you do a competition, a weekend competition brings in 1,000 swimmers. We go to Nashville, Knoxville and Birmingham. We go to Georgia Tech and UT. One thousand swimmers is not unusual. When you bring in parents, it’s another 2,000 people. You need to have room for 500 to 600 swimmers. We have kids driving all over the place to swim lessons and meets.”
Catoosa County School Board member David Moeller said he was willing to look into it, while Ringgold Mayor Joe Barger said he wants to give the people what they want.
“Any community help would be greatly appreciated,” said Millwood.