Aquatic Centre roof falls into pool (updated)

The torn canopy roof at the State Aquatic Centre in Kangar caved in to the swimming pool.

KANGAR: Mother Nature can be unforgiving. Even the State Aquatic Centre was not spared as heavy rain and strong winds tore the canvas roofing apart.

The incident occurred at around 2.15pm on Thursday when it started to rain at the venue. A 10-minute downpour saw the porous canvas roofing over the swimming pool begin to tear.
It proved distracting to those who were at the Aquatic Centre for the Malaysia Games (Sukma) events.

While watching the diving events, many kept turning to see the tear and if it was getting worse.
By the time the rain subsided, half an hour later, the canvas was 90% torn across the width.
It caused a 30-minute delay in the swimming finals which were supposed to begin at 4.30pm as contractors brought in a crane to remove the canvas roofing.

Thankfully nobody was hurt at the centre, which has been in the news over the past week because of delays in its completion.
The delays had resulted in the aquatics competition starting a day late instead of Wednesday as scheduled.

In fact, the finishing touches to the diving platform were only completed on the eve of competition day.

National Sports Council director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong expressed his disappointment on the roof situation on Thursday.

“We will discuss with the contractors to decide what to do about the situation. If there are any weather issues, it will probably result in a delay of the events. I still hope that everything else goes on without a hitch,” he added.  

It looks likely that the swimming competition will go on albeit without any roof covering the pool. The only problem is that there will be further disruptions with the recent stormy weather.

Another angle showing the caved in roofing.

by Ashreena Pillai - The Star