The Fernie-based Elk Valley Dolphins Swim Club, where Abdou is the associate coach, was set to host a swim meet with more than 400 participants. “It was such a punch in the gut,” Abdou told Chis Walker, host of CBC’s Daybreak South. “My eyes were so full of tears. I couldn’t even look at the children—I [didn’t] I want them to see how upset I was because we had to keep them happy. “It was just horrible.” The Fernie Aquatic Center broke through the roof of the facility sometime between late Friday night and early Saturday morning, scattering shards of glass across the pool deck and main pool, the city said in a statement. The city says the break-in caused extensive damage to the center, forcing a five- to seven-day closure. In a news release, the RCMP put the estimated cost of the repairs at $30,000. “Staff spent the morning boarding up the windows, assessing the damage, cleaning the glass from the pool deck, along with the draining and refilling process,” the city said in a Facebook post.
Cranbrook ascends
Abdou says she was disappointed with the city’s decision to close the pool, but was grateful that Aysha Haines, who managed the meeting, insisted it take place and asked the city of Cranbrook to help her. “How are we going to call the Cranbrook pool and say, ‘Cancel all your weekend programming and hire twice as many lifeguards and we’re going to have a meeting right now?’ “But she’s very persistent and a problem solver. Once she got to work and with so much cooperation, by one o’clock we had the pool set up at Cranbrook for a meeting and we were jumping in for warm-ups,” he said. With the help of Cranbrook, the swim event was moved to its aquatic center and the hundreds of participants and spectators from all over the Kootenays, Alberta and Montana were able to race on Saturday and Sunday. The swimming pool was moved to the aquatic center in Cranbrook. (Elk Valley Dolphins Swim Club/Facebook) With the exception of 60 swimmers from Calgary, Abdou says all swimmers and their families and friends made the 100km journey. “It was incredible,” he said. “The parents were very happy and the children had fun.”
Repeated vandalism at Fernie’s aquatic centre
The city says this is not the first act of vandalism at the aquatic center. In October 2019, there were two separate occasions where vandals smashed the centre’s windows with rocks. Before that, vandals set a fire near the facility’s lobby doors and damaged the building’s exterior. Brett Logan, the city’s director of parks, facilities and recreation, says they are considering installing security cameras outside the aquatic center to minimize vandalism. “The number of incidents we are seeing is alarming and the significant damage is affecting our programming and costing taxpayers money,” he said in a statement. RCMP say they are investigating the recent vandalism and are asking anyone with information about the incident to call Elk Valley RCMP’s Fernie detachment at 250-423-4404.
