The next time one visits the prestigious Hyderabad Public School (HPS) in Begumpet, they can find an Olympic-standard swimming pool on the premises, thanks to the management’s resolve to produce Olympic medallists.
As part of the centenary celebrations, HPS has embarked upon creating and improving the existing sports infrastructure with a budget of ₹25 crore besides putting equal emphasis on academics.
“The objective is to provide international training to young talent,” HPS Society president Gusti J. Noria said.
With the latest facility, HPS becomes the first and only school in the country to join a select set of institutions to have an Olympic-size swimming pool.
To mark the occasion, globally renowned ‘Kazakh Synchro Stars’, an artistic swimming troupe comprising world and Olympic-level champions graced the formal inauguration of the pool on Friday.
Telangana Education Secretary Vakati Karuna, who is also the chairperson, Board of Governors of HPS-Begumpet, was the chief guest while Swimming Federation of India secretary general Monal Chokshi attended as guest of honour.
“The school will focus on cycling, swimming, badminton, table tennis, hockey and shooting as part of this initiative. The Olympic-size pool is housed in the HPS swimming complex and is 50 metres by 21 metres, with a deck area of 16,000 square feet and eight lanes. The complex has a seating capacity of 1,000. A significant portion of the investment has been made by the alumni,” Mr.Noria said.
“It is a matter of immense pride that our HPS alumni has been actively involved in the development of the institution. I thank all those who have generously contributed towards the swimming pool,” he said.
