Pool lies empty as Bogura swimmers train in ponds

"I don't want to talk about the lack of facilities anymore. Many journalists have come before, interviewed me about it, but nothing ever happens," said Masud Rana, a Bogura-based swimming instructor, who was frustrated by the years of false promises and obliviousness of the authorities. 

Masud has been training aspiring swimmers from underprivileged backgrounds free of cost for around two decades.

Many of his students have made a mark in the national circuit, winning gold medals at various competitions and one of his pupils, Morium Akter, represented Bangladesh in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Despite the continuous success at the national level, these swimmers from Bogura don't have any proper facilities to train and have to hop around from one pond to another to train, even though on paper a swimming pool does exist in close proximity.

The Bogura Zilla Swimming Pool was constructed right beside the Shaheed Chandu Cricket Stadium and the construction cost the local district sports association about three crore taka.

The swimming pool was inaugurated in 2002 but got shut down soon in 2004. The authorities reopened the pool in 2015 but it again got closed down the following year.

Bogura District Sports Association's (DSA) general secretary Masudur Rahman Milon explained why they haven't been able to keep the pool operational.

"We don't have the funds to operate it. The electricity bill alone will cost us around Tk one lakh per month. We don't even have a recycling machine or a suction machine, so the water becomes unusable in just three days. A few years back, we paid Tk 12 lakh as electricity bill and restarted the pool but couldn't keep it running for too long."

As the 51-metre pool lies empty, the swimmers in Bogura are currently training at the Upazila Parishad Complex pond in Bogura Sadar, which is also used for fish farming.

"Even if we don't get a swimming pool, we need a decent pond to practise," said Ramisa Akter Jui, a 12-year-old swimmer who won five gold medals in the Bangabandhu Junior Swimming Competition in 2022.

"The pond where we are training right now is also used for fish farming. The water there is very dirty. Often there are dead snakes and frogs floating in the water.

There is also a net in the water, where the hand often gets stuck," she added.

Ishrat Jahan Borsha (15), another promising young swimmer training under Masum, was the champion in individual medley in the Bangabandhu Junior Swimming Tournament in 2023. She, too, spoke about the challenges of training in ponds.

"Due to not having a pond for ourselves, we have to go around to different ponds in the city to train, which makes us often catch cold and fever. Changing into our training clothes and changing back to regular clothes after training is also a challenge."

Morium (26), who is employed as a store assistant at the Navy and has been taking part in national swimming events since 2011, winning 39 gold medals to date, spoke about the challenges the aspiring female swimmers in Bogura face.

"It's very difficult for girls in Bogura to learn swimming. There are no swimming pools. We used to go to a pond at the municipality park before, which has been closed off for some time due to some renovation work. There, the girls didn't have a place to change into their training clothes. The boys and the girls have to train together," she said.

At around 10:00 am last Wednesday, Ramisa, Ishrat and around 15 others aged between eight and 20 were seen training at the Upazila Parishad Complex pond under the watchful gaze of Masud.

Masud has set up a tent right beside the pond for the female students to change. The water also looked murky owing to the fish cultivation going on.

The swimmers also said that the upazilla parishad had leased the pond to a mosque committee for fish cultivation, and added that members of the committee often scold them and tell them not to come to train there anymore.

However, Bogura Sadar's UNO Firoza Parvin said, "We didn't lease out the pond. We are temporarily cultivating fish in the pond. We didn't know that the swimmers were facing problems training in the pond because of it. I will definitely take necessary steps to ensure that the children can properly train here. If need be, I will arrange another pond for them to train in."

Masud, however, was unconvinced by such promises as his previous experience keeps him from feeling optimistic. He also trains his son, Siam Magfirat (19), who won a gold medal in the national age-level swimming competition in 2022 and also has a gold medal in 50m freestyle in Bangabandhu Junior Swimming Championship.

Masud, who doesn't take any fees from his students, makes a living by training the services teams and through the earning from a mechanical shop he owns, provides training kits to his students.

"You can't find any swimming equipment in Bogura. I have spent around Tk 1.5 lakh and turned my own bedroom into a small gymnasium and I have also bought some equipment. The kids train there in the day and I sleep there in the night," Masud explained.

Bogura DSA general secretary Masudur told The Daily Star that the association will sit for a meeting on Wednesday about opening up the pool. But till that happens, Masud and his pupils will continue jumping from one pond to another to continue their training.