A newly-renovated 50mx25m, which is the standard Olympics size, swimming pool was inaugurated at the Chaudhary Devi lal Northern Regional Centre in Sonepat on Monday by Ajit K Sharon, Secretary, ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.

Apart from Sharon, other guests present at the event included two-time Olympics medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar, london Olympics bronze medallist grappler Yogeshwar Dutt, Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General Jiji Thomson and other national campers of the SAI centre.

The Sonepat complex has facilities for boxing, hockey, athletics, football, volleyball, basketball and kabaddi but most importantly, it is a centre of excellence for wrestling because of the successes of Sushil, Yogeshwar, Bajrang, Amit Kumar and Sandeep Tulsi Yadav, who are inmates of this complex.

The project of the swimming pool started in 2005 but no work took place till 2013 when the renovation began under the regional director Radhica Sreeman. Due to some indifference from the SAI side and and that of the local Public Works Department, the pool was not getting ready. But, now that it will be functional, it will be beneficial to the sportspersons in more than one way.

“We started the renovation work since June 2013 and the total expenditure incurred was Rs2.11 crores. Apart from the pool, we have a practice pool, steam bath and ice chiller bath. We also have a plan to open a swimming academy here,” Jiji Thomson told reporters. Former wrestling world champion Sushil said that swimming pool will help the campers to relax after a hectic training session.