According to the Los Cabos Municipal Sports Director, Ricardo Manríquez, it would cost almost half a million pesos a month to maintain the Olympic pool in Cabo San Lucas. Indicating it would be necessary to charge an entrance fee. In comparison, operating costs at private swimming pools average of $200,000 pesos per month. The money generated each month would be for maintenance, hiring of personnel as well as paying for the water and electricity. Meaning, the long anticipated grand opening of the Olympic size pool continues to be postponed yet again.
Manriquez said that the Olympic pool was examined by a private expert in 2023. The pool had damage to the hull with cracks where water had leaked, a very dangerous situation because of its electrical system. An official with the Los Cabos city council explained that they had agreed to make the pending improvements, but they did not proceed according to plan. Ricardo Manriquez was asked to empty the pool so the concrete could dry as it had not been waterproofed properly before. ”Drying and repairs will take 6 months and then we will fill the pool with water to see how it will work,” said Manriquez.
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Along with the water issue problems, the electrical and machine room area also needed inspections. “That was at the beginning of 2023, I don’t know if the repair work was done, but inspections have been going on for about two months and then another two months, and so on and yet the pool has remained in the same unsafe condition,” Manriquez said. Indicating that he even asked those who are going to be responsible for maintenance from the Chileno company, and they said that they had not seen any changes and that everything remains the same.
“I recently went into the engine room where you can see the cracks in the hull and there were still very small leaks, but they are leaks after all, which is why I was very surprised that the city council leaders have said, we are ready to open the pool for public use.” he added. Mentioning that this entire ordeal has been a very heavy burden for the Sports Institute, “Of course it is, because it is not budgeted, there are no resources allocated for maintenance or anything like that, so we would have to find an emerging plan of how the pool will be attended to and managed properly,” added Manriquez. “It is a public pool that will have to have an entrance fee for the half a million pesos it is going to cost to keep it open. It is not budgeted for the year 2024, so it would have to be up to the incoming administration to determine what comes next.”
Manriquez mentioned the Olympic pool is a space that is greatly needed, because there are many swim clubs carrying out swimming activities in a recreational and competitive way, but mainly to safeguard people’s lives. In this sense, many parents want our children learn to swim so they are comfortable going to the beaches. In San José del Cabo, they recently inaugurated a semi-Olympic pool, with fewer lanes, where some activities offered to help people with disabilities. “We could be the power that La Paz currently is for swimming; However, in open waters we have children who compete at the international and national level, and having this pool would be another reason we could have many athletes who would have opportunities to participate in the CONADE games in the coming years at the national level,” said Manriquez. Indicating it would be necessary to have a modest cost for use of about $500 pesos per month per child, regardless of whether a budget is assigned for expenses. This would have to be in the next administration’s budget. San José’s private semi-Olympic pool charges $2,800 pesos per month enabling it to maintain the facility. In the end, Manriquez said he will seek to meet with the municipal city council leader, Alondra Torres, to discuss the issue and see what has been done and what needs to be done, “At the end of the day, the pool falls under the responsibility and oversight of the Los Cabos city council, and Alondra Torres is the council member in charge of all that; we only manage the sports facilities,” concluded Manriquez.
