THE Mount Kelly Swim Centre 50-metre Olympic Legacy Swimming Pool is now open!

After one full year of construction by Devon contractors and after more than five years of planning, the eagerly anticipated pool has now opened its doors.

First to use the 50 metre pool were pupils from the performance squad during their 6am session, shortly followed by more than 50 members from Exeter City Swimming Club.

Richard Smith, commercial director at Mount Kelly, said: ‘Four years on from the London 2012 Olympic games and whilst Rio 2016 is underway we are delighted that the 50-metre Olympic Legacy Swimming Pool is now open. The pool a fantastic asset to Tavistock. It is a key investment for swimming regionally, for local community use and will help to drive footfall up in local businesses.’

An agreement was reached in 2015 to build the new eight-lane, 50-metre pool — a project that was to cost £5-million.

The pool at Mount Kelly, which is one of only 30 to 35, 50-metre pools in the UK, took a full five days to fill and now holds a staggering 1.4-million litres of water.

Many swimmers from the local area, from around Great Britain and even abroad will have the opportunity to train in the long course swimming pool — under guidance from top class coaches with a training goal of swimming in the Devon County Swimming Championships or even competing at a future Olympic or Paralympic games.