Please note that there will be no public swim from 3 – 6pm on Wednesday 12th June. This is because TPS are holding a sponsored swim.  The adult swim and swimfit class in the evening will not be affected.

Also there will be no afternoon swim on Sunday 16th June from 2.30 pm – 6 pm as Sheet school are holding a sponsored swim.

The latest news is that the money raised so far by swimmers at our pool for Marie Curie Cancer Care totals £3,283. This makes an average of £82 per swimmer and the pool is ranked 144th nationally(out of  660) and 45th in the SE region for fundraising.  This means that we have already beaten the amount raised last year and not all sponsorship has been collected yet. Well done to all swimmers and sponsors!

This weekend we will be hosting the 2013 Swimathon in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. If you would like to take part there is still one day left before registration closes, see www.swimathon.org. There will be three sessions over the weekend when the pool will be closed for public swimming.  On Friday evening (26th April) the pool will close at 5pm and there will be no adult swim. On Saturday (27th) there will be no afternoon session  and on Sunday (28th) there will be no afternoon session. We apologize for any inconvenience but hope that you will agree that it is for a very good cause. If you would like to come and watch, spectators are welcome. The pool has a team called the Petersfield Open Air Swimmers comprising Rodney Clark, Liz Bisset, Jane Tatford, Nichola Court and Linda Knutsen. If you would like to sponsor them please ask at the pool office.

The new season got off to a cracking start on Saturday, April 20th when for what seemed the first time all year the sun shone under a clear blue sky. We couldn’t have asked for better. Having said that there was a frost that morning and when we took the covers off the steam rose up in billows. No wonder the boilers had struggled to raise the temperature up to the balmy 28ºC that you enjoy.

What most people didn’t realise was just how much last minute preparation went into meeting the deadline. The freezing weather in March and early April had meant much of the maintenance work that would nornlly have taken place was delayed right up until the evening before we opened. Indeed at 8.30am on Saturday working together with our Treasurer, Jane and my wife Rosemary, we were still busy installing the diving board (having finished recovering it the night before).

However after Viv had formally cut the ribbon we are now well and truly open and the final touch went in today when the paddling pool was resprayed.We like to think that it looks rather splendid but take a look for yourself (when the paint’s dry).

Enjoy the season everyone.

Well, only a few more days to wait now until the pool opens for the 2013 season. After the awful prolonged winter we’ve had it will be great to get out in the open to swim again. We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday starting at 9am with an adults only session till 10.30 am when the pool will officially open for everyone.

On Saturday (6th April) we are having a fundraising cake stall in Rams Walk from about 8.30am till 1pm. Please come along to support us and buy a cake or some of Diane’s wonderful jam or marmalade. We shall also have the new season brochure to hand out.

If you are able to bake a cake for us or can man the stall for an hour or two please contact Liz Bisset on 01730 263429.

Well we are all so proud of Viv! On Friday 22nd March she received the Sports Award at the Life in Petersfield awards and then on the following Monday was honoured by Mary Vincent, Mayor of Petersfield for service to the community in the field of sport. What a week it was and very rightly deserved. Well done Viv!

Once again, the pool will be open to take lesson bookings and for the public to have a look around and  inspect the work carried out in the closed season, one week ahead of  the opening for the new season. This year the Open Day will be on Saturday 13th April before the pool officially opens on Saturday 20th April.

Viv and her staff will be available to take bookings for adult and children’s swimming and diving lessons and for Swimfit (adult stamina classes), from 10.00 am (not 9.30 as previously stated) until 1pm. As in previous years, to alleviate the boredom of queueing we will operate a numbering system where everyone will be given a number and will be called in turn.  Coffee from our new real bean coffee machine! and cakes will be served.

We strongly advise that you attend this booking session as places are filled quickly on a first-come first-served basis.

A big thank you to all the stalwart supporters who came along to the AGM last Monday. It was great to see you and for the committee to know that they are not working in isolation and that their work is appreciated.  Many thanks to Diane Harvey for organising the refreshments and to Jim Tatford for overseeing the re-election of the officers and committee.

We were very pleased to welcome Oliver Stubbs and Jonathan Daley on to the committee and look forward to working with them. They both have already proved their worth by helping at a work day at the pool last Saturday. Also Jonathan has been looking into various maintenance issues for us and Ollie and his company Red Mouse Creative Design, has designed and organised the printing of the new brochure (available soon) for which we are extremely grateful.

It was also a good opportunity for the committee to publicly thank Viv Mays and her staff for all the hard work that they do to keep the pool running efficiently and to such high standards.

The pool annual report and accounts will be available for everyone to look at, from the pool office at the start of the season.

Well it’s that time of year again! The AGM for the Open Air Pool will be held on Monday 4th March at 7.30 pm at the Rose Room, Festival Hall, Petersfield. If you have an interest in the pool why not come along. You can find out how the committee of trustees has been running things, what has been done over the closed season and what plans there are for the coming season. Have your say about the pool – constructive comments and suggestions are always welcomed. Perhaps you would like to be more involved? Come along and talk to the committee. Refreshments will be served after the main business of the meeting.

Also once again, anyone buying their season ticket at the AGM, will be entitled to a reduction of £10. Season ticket prices have been held at 2012 prices ie.adults £175 (£165 at AGM), concession 60+ £160 ( £150 at AGM), junior 4 – 16 yrs £130 (£120 at AGM).