After years of planning, construction has begun for United Herzlia Schools’ new Aquatics Centre at the High School campus.
This exciting newest upgrade will update one outside pool to a brand new, enclosed double-pool-in-one. The decision to do this project was an easy one as Herzlia consistently achieves exceptional results in the water polo and swimming sports codes and the current swimming pool was used beyond capacity by numerous schools with scheduling challenges. It was also a relatively small pool that fell just short of water polo competition dimensions and hadn’t undergone any major renovation since its construction over 40 years ago.
The new Aquatics Centre’s pool will be indoor and will be big enough for two matches, or two sets of concurrent training sessions, and heated to allow for training all year round. It will have modern change rooms and ablutions for both home and away teams with a new, safe, direct access route created to cross the road from Highlands Primary into both the Aquatics Centre, as well as the Goldschmidt Building.
Water sports attract large participation by Herzlian pupils, with water polo currently the biggest sport at Herzlia with over 200 pupils (boys and girls) participating in what has become Herzlia’s signature sport. Herzlia competes in water polo against top sporting schools, both locally and nationally. Pupils already train as much as possible — when weather permits, during the year from 06h30 in the morning before school with Herzlia pupils’ dedication and passion above and beyond.
Andries van Renssen, UHS Executive Director, says “I am over the moon about the great news that we have secured two significant donors — Wilfred and Fay Back Trust and the King David Golf Club Sports Fund — to help fund the centre. The construction of an aquatic centre gives the school a central hub with recreational and communal areas for pupils. As the aquatic centre sits in the most magnificent setting — overlooking Table Mountain — the roof cover was designed in such a way that it showcases the magnificent view. A central kikar (plaza) will further transform the space into an interconnected facility that creates a central cafeteria and indoor-outdoor meeting spaces.”
Shane Brorson, High School Principal, says, “Construction will take several months, and we’ve got plans in place with local pools which we will use during this time. While there may be some expected disruption, we hope to continue receiving support from the school community during this short period buoyed by the reality that we’ll soon have an incredible Aquatics Centre which will elevate sports across all age groups. Our pupils will be able to specialise in their sport of choice and have the opportunity to condition themselves with the necessary pre-season training.”
Geoff Cohen, Director of Jewish Identity and Community, says that “A brand-new pool complex is exciting and creates a sense of hype for the future. Having a one-of-a-kind facility with a one-of-a-kind view puts Herzlia on the map! It will allow us to host our own tournaments, as well as help nurture and grow the pupils’ passion for sports and improve their overall skill level. This is an exciting further investment in our water sports in the future on the back of us appointing Britt Hyland and her team from AquaSharks who, earlier this year, took over the ‘learn-to-swim’ lessons in all Alon Ashel Pre-Primary and Weizmann Primary curricula.”
Ross Van Schoor, newly appointed as Head of Aquatics at Herzlia High School, explains that, “The building of the new Aquatics Centre brings about many opportunities for growth in fitness, skills development and achieving sporting excellence. A state-of-the-art facility will help take Herzlia sport to the next level.”
• Published in the August 2023 issue – Click here to start reading.
• To advertise in the Cape Jewish Chronicle and on this website – kindly contact Lynette Roodt on 021 464 6736 or email advertising@ctjc.co.za. For more information and advertising rate card click here.
• Sign up for our newsletter and never miss another issue.
• Please support the Cape Jewish Chronicle with a voluntary Subscription for 2023. For payment info click here.
• Visit our Portal to the Jewish Community to see a list of all the Jewish organisations in Cape Town with links to their websites.
Follow the Cape Jewish Chronicle: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn
