A LOCAL open water swimming club, which has produced world champion ice swimmers, said it has to train in County Clare because there are no facilities available in Limerick.
The Limerick Narwhals Club said that while it was delighted to have received certificates from former mayor Gerald Mitchell for its charity work, the club needs an adequate and safe place to swim rather than plaudits.
It told the Limerick Post it has called on the Limerick City and County Council to redevelop the historic Corbally Baths, which it wants to use for training.
Narwhals spokesman Mark Dempsey said that in the 1980s, the council “bulldozed the baths’ changing rooms into the actual baths and have not cleaned the baths, therefore it is too risky/dangerous to swim there”.
He said despite the club approaching the council to do this work, “nothing has happened”.
Ms Dempsey said the club was told by a member of the council’s engineering department that “the water needed to cleaned first before it is dredged”, but Mr Dempsey said this does not make sense, adding that “the water needs to be dredged before it is cleaned”.
Mr Dempsey said the club asked the council what cleaning or redevelopment works, if any, had already been undertaken at the baths and if there were any plans to redevelop the facility.
It also asked the council if there was a timeline for this type of work and what it would cost.
“We got a big award from the mayor (former mayor Gerald Mitchell) for our promotion of open water swimming and our charity work, and we have to do all our swimming in Clare because we have nowhere to swim in Limerick. It just doesn’t seem right,” Mr Dempsey said.
“The Corbally baths are closed down and we can’t swim in the river at specific times of the day as it is tidal.”
The club travel to O’Briensbridge to train, but want to be closer to home.
“The Corbally Baths is a fantastic place but the council have done nothing for the past 30 years,” he said.
“They should clean it out. They messed it up, they bulldozed it in 1980s and redeveloped everything bar the baths. Everything around it was cleaned bar the baths.”
The Narwhals spokesman said that the club has “70 members, five world champion gold medalists and a Guinness Book of Records holder.”
“Every year we have 10 to 20 people going to world championships from Limerick, and yet we have no place to swim.
“We have thought about doing it ourselves, but you wouldn’t know what is inside in the water.
When asked for comment, Limerick City and County Council said that “the potential of developing a bathing area at Corbally Baths is dependent, in the first instance, on a site-specific feasibility study being undertaken, and funding will have to be allocated to enable this task to commence.”
