Wigan Album

Photo sent by Colin Traynor with the following comment
I remember this model being on display at a Wigan Industry Exhibition in The Drill Hall on Powell Street in the early 1960’s .
Many Olympic Swimmers trained in this pool, including Ashton’s own June Croft who competed in three Olympic Games.

Why was it called International Olympic when it was neither?

Bruce, Because that’s what the large sign said on the wall WIGAN INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING POOL and it hosted many international swimming events.

Why are you called Bruce and Almighty when YOU are neither?

I do recall both seating galleries being packed for an international swimming competition with Sweden that I went to but cannot remember if this was England or GB.
International swimming ceased due to something wrong with the pool, might have been the width?

The story goes that the pool was the wrong dimensions for international or olympic competitions, including minimum depth. Although, you know what Wigan is like for stories.

Bruce All Wrongy - The only mention of Olympics is in connection with the Olympic Swimmers who trained and swam there in International Competitions.
The pool was for a number of years deemed Olympic in size but this was later rescinded.

It was one of only a few pools in the country built to the international olympic standard specifications. Where swimmers could train in a pool like the one they would compete in, which matters for a lot of reasons not least how many strokes between turns and depth for diving.

When I was a young lad I used to swim there once a week and after the swim have the treat of a snack in the cafe overlooking the pool.

That'll keep him quiet for a while, so well done MikeW, you get a Brucie bonus. :¬)
Was there ever a reason given as to why the 'Olympic' was dropped from the name? I do remember the rumour at the time that a mistake had been made by builders when the conversion of measurements from metric into imperial was made, and later it was found that the pool was short in length by a matter of centimetres and so couldn't be used for Olympic contests. Though whether true or not the shortness of the pool didn't stop June Croft in her practising there, and her winning of Silver and Bronze in the Olympics, https://www.britishswimming.org/browse-sport/swimming/olympic-swimming/

https://www.wigantoday.net/heritage-and-retro/retro/gallery-the-demolition-of-wigan-international-swimming-pool-3241404
Was there any structural reason as to why a renovation could have been done on the building, rather than demolition?
Though there was plenty concrete pumped into the old mines that was discovered when it was being built, so the foundations should have been solid, maybe the council just likes demolition and they each have a turn on the crane with the big swinging ball.

wonderful 60's architecture, visually fantastic, but nor very energy efficient

I seem to recall that, when it was being constructed, the main contractors were Gerrards of Swinton, and the work had to be suspended when a condition named as running sand was discovered. A dispute arose between the contractors and Wigan Council as to who was going to be responsible for the extra costs. This was subsequently resolved in the Council's favour, on the grounds that Gerrards should have become aware of the problem in their initial survey.