N.S swim club resorts to survival facility for training

HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia swim team is taking a creative approach to its training.

The Dartmouth Crusaders lost their home pool for more than an entire season while it undergoes renovations, so the head coach looked into a site suggested by some parents.

That lead the team to the Marine Aviation Survival Training Facility — a state-of-the-art multimillion-dollar facility that specializes in simulated at sea and underwater training scenarios.

Dan Latremouille, training and operations Manager for the facility, told Global News that it normally provides safety and survival training for offshore, marine, industrial and military aviation segments.

It had never before been used by a swim club for practice, solely operating as a training ground for rescue and survival.

But it has its challenges, as a current pulls swimmers to one side, a lack of painted lines on the floor makes staying in their “lanes” tricky and water temperatures are 10 to 15 degrees cooler than a normal pool. (Global News)