If there was an Olympic-size swimming pool in the Cayman Islands it would only be a matter of time before the country won its first ever medal at the biggest sporting stage of all.

Cayman has produced four Olympic swimmers in the past two Games - brothers Shaune and Brett Fraser, Andrew Mackay and Heather Roffey - and that’s despite the tiny, inadequate pool at the Lion’s Aquatic Centre. Swimming is the most successful sport here by a proverbial mile and consensus is that if a state-of-the-art 50 metre pool existed here, Cayman would be churning out champion torpedoes that would make them the envy of the world’s swimming fraternity.

So why isn’t there one? It has been in the works for years and some funds have been collected but the answer is obvious. Cost, basically. Around $7m to build one and an annual six-figure sum to maintain it. In a recession, sports funding always suffers. Right now, if they committed, the Government would be out of its, eh, depth.   

National Swimming Coach Dominic Ross says: “The plans for the 50m pool are currently on hold. Given the current economic climate we feel this is the best approach. This project will require Government backing when it does eventually go ahead and as they are clearly not in a position to do this we feel it best that while not by any means giving up on the project, that it be postponed for the time being.”

How significant does Ross feel an Olympic pool here would be? After all, Cayman has plenty of magnificent open water that the kids can train in. “The pool would essentially triple the amount of space we currently have at the now slightly over utilised Lion’s Pool. It would allow for near constant public access during opening hours as well as the expansion of the current services offered and the addition of other services such as water aerobics classes and water polo. It would also give us the ability to host regional competitions such as CARIFTA.”

Shaune Fraser, 22, has represented Cayman at the last two Olympics and is the country’s best bet for an Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games. Like Ross, the Government funded elite swimmer understands the situation. “Cayman is currently facing difficult economic times that have not been experienced on these islands for many decades,” he says. “Although an Olympic pool is needed, Government has far greater issues that need to be addressed.

“Anyway, an Olympic-sized pool does not necessarily produce Olympians. Far more important is that it would allow every school child to become ‘water resistant’ which is critical living on an island. Swimming is a life skill. Once you learn it you will never forget. A 50m pool can handle three times the number of bodies than a 25m pool. Of course the more children you can expose to water the greater the likelihood that some will aspire to be Olympians.”

Had Fraser been able to train in an Olympic-sized pool he does not think he would necessarily be any better now but would certainly not have had to travel so extensively in his formative years. It would have saved his parents Jim and Laurice a lot of money and not drained so much Government and sponsorship funding.

Nevertheless, an Olympic pool would have raised the overall swimming standards here, brought tremendous kudos and the tangible rewards of more tourism dollars. The annual Flowers Sea Swim in June is Cayman’s biggest sporting event. It seems a false economy not to have an Olympic-sized pool.