The Pickaquoy Centre's new £6.6m swimming pool, health suite and squash courts opened its doors to the public on Saturday 22 June.

The facility has been financed through a combination of Orkney Islands Council, Scottish Government and sportscotland funding, and replaces the 40 year old dual use pool at Kirkwall Grammar School.

The first phase of the Centre's cost £8.5m and was opened by HRH The Princess Royal in 1999, who returned to open the new facilities on 4 July.

The new swimming pool provides a six lane competition pool, with moveable floor and spectator seating. The Leisure Pool has a boom that separates the competition pool along with poolside Health Suite. A viewing gallery overlooks the Leisure Pool, while the relocated Gym overlooks the competition pool and offers the latest Technogym equipment.

The excellent swimming facilities have been met with great enthusiasm by the community and they will give a significant boost to increasing swimming participation and development in Orkney.

Kirkwall Squash and Racketball Club sold their old premises to relocate to the new facility and they have already seen huge interest, particularly from juniors, in the new courts. The three squash courts have retractable walls to allow doubles, along with a competition court with spectator seating.

As part of the development, the Centre has relocated its fitness room so that it overlooks the pool and invested in new cardiovascular equipment from Technogym. Additional investment has been through relocating the soft play area close to the cafe and developing a Strength and Conditioning Gym and Functional Training Area.