Pool: Gisborne - Enterprise Pool
0-6-867-9244
Grade: C
The Good: The standard of swimmers and coaches who work at the pool. Well run. Lots of lanes. Good training temperature
The Ugly: Fairly basic building.
Reflections: The Enterprise Pool was built primarily with funding provided by the Enterprise Car Group. It was Gisborne's first indoor pool. It is far from the flashest building in the world but it does go to show if you have the basics right and you know what you are doing you can train some very good swimmers. Gary Martin has coached Glen and Rachael Anderson, Julie McLouchlan, Sarah Shaw, Matt Martin and has the very good Alan Thorp in his current squad. He has also got Bert Cotterill coaching his development squads, which is bad news for Hawke's Bay Clubs wanting to beat his Enterprise Club. If you are in Gisborne, the pool is worth a visit - not because of the pool so much but if you can get Gary talking you'll end up with some good and free advice.

Pool: Gisborne - Olympic Pool
www.gdc.govt.nz/op/op.html
Grade: B in summer D in winter
The Good: In summer the tent roof and the ample space available for a three-hour workout
The Ugly: In winter it is cold. The water is fine but the air temperature keeps you tough.
Reflections: The main pool is 50m with a 25m bulkhead. The pool's outstanding feature is its tent roof. In the summer time it is fantastic. With Gisborne's climate the walls can be rolled back and the pool becomes inside/outside. It is refreshing and unique in New Zealand. There is always plenty of lane space and the water is a good temperature. In addition to the main pool there is a second 30m pool which keeps the "players" out of the training lanes. There is also a diving pool, paddling pool, spa pools and hydroslide. For a while the staff were not very "user-friendly" but over the last couple of years that has changed and it's a fun place to swim at again. Greg Meade runs the Comet swim squad there, which is appropriate - years ago his mother raised the bulk of the money to build the place.

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