THE "endless pool" looks harmless enough at first. Roughly the shape and size of a top-end Jacuzzi, it seems more suited for holiday lounging than Olympic training.

But when the underwater jets fire up and a teenage swimmer gets in, things become a little different...

"That's fast enough!" said Amy Corbett, 17, as she took a break from testing out the pool, effectively a treadmill for athletes that allows them to swim "on the spot".

Amy turns out for Sherwood Colliery Swimming Club, in Mansfield, and will work as a lifeguard at the endless pool's home, the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre, which opens today.

The pool is just one of the new additions to the completely re-modelled swimming centre.

There have been public baths on the corner of Westdale Road in Mansfield since the Sherwood Colliery Pit Head Baths first opened in 1934.

But it's probably fair to say that, when the miners turned out for the grand opening with their families and their two colliery-provided towels, they couldn't have imagined the day there would be Olympic-calibre training equipment on the premises – or a local Olympic champion's name over the door.

More recently the baths, taken over by the local authority in the 1960s, saw Adlington first hit the water, and she's excited to be honoured this way by her hometown.

"It's such a great honour for the pool to be named after me," she said, shortly after the decision was made.

"As somewhere I learnt to swim when I was growing up, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that this would happen.

"I'm delighted that my hometown is celebrating my swimming in this way."

Some £5m of rebuilding and remodeling was undertaken after the old baths closed in March.

The main pool has been widened from four to six lanes; a smaller teaching pool is kept shallow – 0.8m throughout – and warmer. That, plus a chairlift and a wheelchair path that descends into the water, make the pool better for small children and the physically handicapped, said facility manager David Norcliffe.

One goal, he said, was for the centre to become both a training ground for competitive swimmers and a community baths.

Take the endless pool: David said it was the first of its kind in Notts, and would allow competitive swimmers and their coaches to do some elite training.

Underwater cameras let coaches watch each swimmer's technique, while laptop ports will let the swimmers see video of themselves immediately afterwards.

"It's a good training tool," he said. "For the small space that it's in, it's really good."

But it won't just be there for competitive swimmers: children and other non-swimmers who fear the water will benefit as much as Speedo-clad Olympic hopefuls; they will get comfortable with swimming in less intimidating, not-much-bigger-than-a-bathtub surroundings.

The extended first floor includes a large workout suite and a smaller version aimed at children that includes electronic dance-game mats and an "activity wall".

To show how the 2.5-by 1.5m wall works, David turned it on: small, differently coloured squares lit up across it and a disembodied, American-accented voice excitedly explained that this was "Turbo Tag!"

It's a strenuous business, Turbo Tag.

"Tag the targets as quickly as you can!" commanded the voice, and David darted back and forth as different squares flicked on and off. It was, he explained, one of six games in the wall's repertoire.

If £5m buys plenty of new equipment and modern accoutrements, it has also helped preserve and restore some of the old building's original character.

The high arched ceiling over the main pool, hidden for years by a false ceiling, has been revealed and given a new row of glass sunlights. Pool workers are now seeking out old pictures and memorabilia for a "wall of history" in an upstairs hallway overlooking the main pool.

But while the centre celebrates history, it also focuses on the future – and potential Rebecca Adlingtons.

The Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre opens today from 8am to 5pm. From 8am to 10am there will be a public swimming session in the main pool, and from 8am to 4pm swimming instructors will be on hand to assess swimmers' skills and advise on which level of swimming lessons will suit them.

erik.petersen@ nottinghameveningpost.co.uk