Ponds Forge International Sports Centre is a leisure complex in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It has an Olympic-sized swimming pool with 2,600 seating capacity, a family and children's pools (50 m Competition pool and 25 metre diving pit), water slides amongst other facilities. Managed by Everyone Active on behalf of the Sheffield City Council.

History

Ponds Forge was opened in 1991 as a venue for the

Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

, which the city hosted that year. In the 1994 UK Sports Design Awards, Ponds Forge was highly commended in the overall category, and for the use of steel in its construction it won the British Steel Award. The name ''Ponds Forge'' is borrowed from the steel works that formerly occupied this site and a high anvil has been left in situ next to the building, partly because it was deemed too expensive to move. The

River Sheaf The River Sheaf in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, flows northwards, past Dore, through Abbeydale and north of Heeley. It then passes into a culvert, through which it flows under the centre of Sheffield before joining the River Don. Thi ...

runs under the site and flooded the car park on 21 December 1991, shutting down the complex for 6 days. Proof of this can be found on platform Five of

Sheffield railway station Sheffield station (formerly Pond Street and later Sheffield Midland) is a combined railway station and tram stop in Sheffield, England; it is the busiest station in South Yorkshire, and the second busiest in Yorkshire & the Humber, after Leed ...

, because the Sheaf also runs under that, and it also flooded at the same time. A piece of debris from "The Flood" is displayed there and the plaque mounted on it has the same date. In the 2000s Ponds Forge was a venue (along with the nearby

Don Valley Stadium Don Valley Stadium, England, was a stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, completed in 1990, and hosted the 1991 World Student Games. It was named after the nearby River Don. The stadium was demolished in 2013. The stadium and facilities were ...

) for Channel Four's, '' The Games'', in which celebrities competed against each other in a wide range of events.

Olympic-sized swimming pool

The 50 metre pool at Ponds Forge is one of twelve in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

built to current FINA standards, and hence is home to many sporting events. The main pool hall is 90 m long by 60 m wide and when the arches for the roof were constructed temporary supports for them were necessary. When these were removed it "settled" 150 mm. It has two movable bulkheads (so it is possible to split the main tank into 2 or 3 individual pools) and the floors at the end quarters can be raised or lowered from surface level down to 2 m depth. In its long course mode with the bulkheads at the extreme ends it has 10 lanes. If used "width ways" up to twenty 25 m lanes are available. A sophisticated ozone water treatment system is employed that results in lower levels of irritants and reduced toxicity compared with traditional methods of treatment. A number of

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

have been set in the pool although only one was long course. The latter was in the heats of the European Championships on 3 August 1993 when

Károly Güttler Károly Güttler (born 15 June 1968 in Budapest) is a former breaststroker from Hungary, who represented his native country at four consecutive Olympics, beginning with the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and ending with the 2000 Summer Olympics ...

of Hungary went 1.00.95 to set a new world mark in the 100 m breaststroke. As well as competition-level swimming, the pool is also used for lessons, diving, kayaking and scuba diving. It is also open to the general public for lane swimming.

Events hosted

The swimming pool hosted the 1993 Men's

European Water Polo Championship The European Water Polo Championship is a sport competition for national water polo teams, currently held biannually and organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN), the governing European aquatics federation. There are both men's and wo ...

(part of the

1993 European Aquatics Championships The 1993 European Aquatics Championships were held in Sheffield, United Kingdom from Tuesday 3 August to Sunday 8 August, in the 50 m pool of the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. The 21st edition of the event was organised by the ...

). It has also hosted the 2006

Underwater Hockey World Championships The Underwater Hockey World Championship is the peak international event for the underwater sports, underwater sport of Underwater Hockey. The event is conducted on behalf of the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) by a ...

, in addition to the junior world championships in 2019. The pool is also used for the national underwater hockey competitions ran by the British Octopush Association.

Diving pool

Ponds Forge has Europe's deepest

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

pool at 5.85 metres. This pool hosted the FINA World Diving Series Championships in April 2011 and was home to USA Diving Squad for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is also home to the City of Sheffield Water Polo Club, a first division water polo team.

Surf City leisure pool

The "Surf City" leisure pool complex comprises various water-based attractions open for public use: *A leisure pool, which can be used for lane swimming or leisure swimming. At regular intervals a wave machine is activated in this pool. *A lazy river that goes around the outside of the leisure pool. *A smaller children's pool with shallow waters, a sensory wall, fountains and a mini slide. *A leisure pod dedicated for disabled swimmers, equipped with a disabled hoist.

Gym

In 2008 the gym at Ponds Forge had a £3 million refurbishment. It now houses a 130-piece gym, a spin studio, numerous group fitness class studios.

Basketball

Within the complex is the International Sports Hall, which is occasionally used as a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

venue. The maximum

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of the arena is 1,000; until 2006 it was the home venue for the

Sheffield Sharks The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as B.Braun Sheffield Sharks for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, England. The Sharks compete in the Super League Basketball and play their home matches at ...

, before they temporarily relocated to the

EIS Sheffield The English Institute of Sport is a multi-sport facility in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The facility designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects was opened in December 2003 at a cost of £24 million. Its main feature is a 200m indoor track, ...

, and in 2019 the Sheffield Sharks returned to Ponds Forge as their home venue, until their departure in 2023 to the newly opened Canon Medical Arena, in Attercliffe. Amongst other events it has also hosted several

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

international matches, as well as the Semi-finals of the

BBL Cup The British Basketball League Cup, often shortened to the BBL Cup, was an annual cup competition for the British Basketball League (BBL). It was one of two peripheral competitions operated by the League during the regular season, with the other b ...

in 2004 and the

BBL Trophy The British Basketball League Trophy, often shortened to the BBL Trophy, is an annual cup competition for the British Basketball League (BBL). It is the unique of peripheral competitions operated by the League during the regular season, The com ...

in February 2008.

Location

Ponds Forge is at the south-western side of the traffic

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

at Park Square, nearby the Sheffield City Centre. It is within walking distance of the bus and rail interchange at

and is also served by the

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

stop at

Fitzalan Square Fitzalan Square is a municipal square situated in the city centre of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The present day square is one of the busiest areas of the city centre, with traffic and pedestrians continually moving through the area ...

/Ponds Forge. The

Sheffield Parkway The Sheffield Parkway is a major dual carriageway which runs between the City of Sheffield and junction 33 of the M1 in South Yorkshire, England. The road was opened in 1974. Route The route runs east of the City, connecting Park Square in ...

dual-carriageway runs directly from Park Square to junction 33 of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

References

External links

Official Website
* {{SheffieldStructures Sports venues in Sheffield Sheffield Sharks Sports venues completed in 1991