Opinion: 50 years of the Templemore ‘compy’ – now for the next chapter

The complex isn’t just a leisure centre. It’s part of growing up here. It’s muscle memory. It’s the smell of chlorine the second you walk in, the shock of the cold water, the whistles echoing off the walls, and the chaos of everyone pretending they knew how to swim.

It’s the 50p swim that felt like a bargain until you were blue with the cold… and then that famous cup of chicken soup afterwards that somehow fixed everything. Honestly, I don’t know what was in it, but it deserved a Michelin star for services to Derry.

The ‘compy’ was where we all ended up, whether you were sporty or just there for the craic. It hosted it all. Big events like the National Cross Country Championships, unforgettable nights like when Charlie Nash lifted the European boxing title, and then the real serious business… standing at a viewing window watching your da play indoor football like it was the World Cup final.

And that’s what makes it special. It’s not just the big moments, it’s the everyday ones. First swimming lessons, first matches, friendships formed, confidence built. Generations of people have passed through those doors, and every single one of them has a story.

That’s the legacy of Templemore.

But let’s be brutally honest, the building is done. It’s been patched up, kept going, probably held together at times with more hope than anything else. And fair play to it, it’s done its shift and more. But we’ve known for a long time now that we’re asking yesterday’s building to meet today’s needs.

But for years, a new Templemore felt like one of those ‘aye, someday’ conversations. Always a priority, but the funding just wasn’t there.

Until things changed.

When the Executive and the Department for the Economy stepped in, with Caoimhe Archibald leading the charge on regional balance, and took the airport funding into the department, it created the breathing space we needed. It allowed council to finally look at a real funding strategy, one that includes using the rates to deliver something this city deserves.

And that brings us to now.

We’re not just talking about it anymore, we’re actually doing it.

A £100 million investment. A modern, state-of-the-art facility. A 50-metre Olympic pool. Spaces that are accessible, inclusive, and built for everyone, from elite athletes to the wains heading in on a Saturday morning just looking for a bit of fun.

This wont be just a replacement it will be a statement.

A statement that Derry deserves the best. That we’re done making do. That the North West is moving forward with confidence and ambition.

So this week, we will celebrate 50 years of Templemore Sports Complex, every splash, every match, every memory.

But more importantly, we look ahead.

Because the next generation deserve their own Templemore. Their own stories. Their own version of that 50p swim, maybe just a wee bit warmer.