The brand new £17 million Liverpool Aquatics Centre opens its doors on Saturday 15th March..

The Olympic sized pool - which will be used as a training camp by some of the world's best swimmers in the run up to the 2012 games - will open at 9:30am on Saturday, 15th March.  

The state-of-the-art facility in Wavertree is three pools in one, with the main pool able to be divided in two, plus another 20 metre training pool. 

It has a unique moveable floor which allows the depth to be varied and can even be raised above the water line for it to be used for dry sports such as aerobics.

It's the biggest investment in the city's swimming facility for decades, and will benefit the local community and the city's team of elite swimmers - putting an end to the 70 mile round trips they have had to make to Manchester and Wigan for training. The team includes two of Britain's best Olympic hopefuls: Commonwealth Games silver medallist Francesca Halsall and European Youth Olympic champion Michael Rock. 

Lib Dem Council leader Warren Bradley said: "This is a major new investment in community facilities, not just for local people and schoolchildren, but also our team of brilliant elite Commonwealth and Olympic swimmers.
          
"We already have first class athletics, football, gymnastics and tennis facilities in Liverpool, and the pool will allow us to bid to host national swimming championships so that people can cheer on our athletes in their home city.

"There has been a great deal of anticipation ahead of the opening and I know people will be queuing up to use the new pools and gym.

"This is a major part of our drive to improve the health of the local community by giving them access to affordable, top quality leisure centres - and all children under 17 will be able to use it at no cost using their free council leisure passes.

"It is another great boost for Liverpool in our year in the spotlight as European Capital of Culture." 

Spectators will be able to watch the swimmers in a 400 seat arena, and it is expected the centre will also host major championships.

The project includes additional investment to improve the adjoining Lifestyles leisure centre, which has seen a large expansion of the gym which now contains more than 100 pieces of state-of-the-art equipment. 

The entire sports complex, which also includes the Indoor Tennis Centre, Athletics Centre and extensive synthetic and grass sports pitches has been re-named Wavertree Sports Park.

The majority of funding - £13 million - is coming from the city council, with a further £4m of Lottery cash from Sport England.

The Aquatics Centre replaces the original 80 year old Picton Baths which had to close because of structural problems.