The Sports Bureau (ID) announced on Monday that the indoor swimming pool of the government-run Lin Fong Sports Centre will be fully open to the public starting October, in response to the needs of residents living in the northern district for sports facilities and spaces.
ID President Pun Weng Kun told the media that the indoor swimming pool was originally used to only host Sports for All classes on the whole, but due to the dense population in the north district, the current swimming facilities were “relatively unable” to meet public demand and, therefore, adjustments were made, adding that swimming classes will continue to be offered during off-peak hours in the future.
Pun made the remarks after yesterday’s press conference about October’s golf competition, at the Grand Lisboa Palace (GLP) in Cotai.
After the full opening of the swimming pool, Pun said he estimated that the maximum usage of the pool could reach 440,000 times per year, pointing out that the current mode of operation was only half of the future usage.
Pun said: “The expansion of the usage will benefit more people than at present.”
When asked by a reporter what some senior citizens could do if their swimming lessons at Lin Fong Sports Centre were cancelled, Pun said he believed that learners could be expected to have acquired certain skills to practise on their own after a period of learning, adding that the bureau would seek to run Sports for All classes in other sporting venues in the Macau peninsula.
Pun said: “As Macau has limited space, it is hoped that residents can practise on their own, according to their physical conditions, after learning basic swimming skills.”
Among the Sports for All classes, according to an ID statement on Monday, in the swimming pool of the Lin Fong Sports Centre, the swimming lessons have been taking place for over 20 years. Over the past 10 years, more than 72,000 people have enrolled in different swimming modalities, with over 5,200 attending classes more than once.
When asked about the possible impact on athlete-training once the swimming pool fully opens to the public again, Pun pointed out that the athletes nowadays mainly receive their training at the Aquatic Centre of the Olympic Sports Centre in Taipa and, therefore, he believed that the full opening of the Lin Fong swimming pool would not have much of an impact on their training. On the contrary, he added, the arrangement would enable more young people to train, expand the swimming population base, and provide conditions for the selection of promising young swimmers in the future.
Meanwhile, the government’s referral mechanism for local cultural and sports projects to the city’s six integrated resort operators has been in operation for over a month, in which, according to Pun, the number of sports-related referrals received so far has remained in the single digits.
With the aim of promoting the appropriately diversified development of Macau’s economy, the government launched the mechanism last month to encourage integrated resort (IR) operators to support the development of Macau’s cultural and sporting undertakings. Through the mechanism, local cultural and sports associations, enterprises or individuals can submit their project plans to the designated email address, after which the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and Sports Bureau will assist in collecting and forwarding them to IR operators so that they can take the referral plans into account, based on their own commercial considerations and project implementation direction.
Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun speaks to the media after yesterday’s press conference about October’s golf competition, at the Grand Lisboa Palace (GLP) in Cotai.
– Photo: Yuki Lei
