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After much anticipation, the new 拢20 million Aquatic Centre opened with a lavish ceremony on 17th April, 2008.

The celebratory event featured light projections, pyrotechnics and outdoor theatre and dance.

Tempted to take the plunge?

We have some amazing pictures and video footage of the opening ceremony:

You can also send us your pictures for our gallery to wear@bbc.co.uk.

A feat of construction

5,100 cubic metres of concrete, 11 timber beams and 225,483 tiles make up the structure that lives next to the Stadium of Light and will be home to the North East's first Olympic-sized swimming pool. It has been designed by the Red Box Design Group on behalf of Sunderland City Council.

David Coundon is the project architect

"The pool had to be big enough and dramatic enough to stand its ground next to the stadium, but the stadium ultimately had to be the dominant feature," said David Coundon of Red Box who is the Project Architect, Principal of Red Box Architecture and one of the UK's most experienced pool designers.

David is responsible for other swimming facilities such as the Manchester Commonwealth Pool and Inverness Aquatic Centre.

The Aquatic centre was selected as a potential training camp for the 2012 Olympics - seven weeks before it was due to open.

The 拢20 million Aquatic Centre has been named as one of a select group of sporting venues nationwide chosen by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) for inclusion in its Pre-games Training Camp Guide.

First to take the plunge!

Making History

A group of school children from Redby Primary School made history by being the first people to use the 50 metre swimming pool.

The school was the lucky winner of a draw organised by Sunderland City Council, see pictures of the children taking the plunge and the rest of the Aquatic Centre by clicking this link:

Head teacher, Val Shield, said: "It's fantastic! We are all absolutely delighted and very proud that our year 5 pupils were the first to enjoy the pool.

"It was a difficult decision to make to choose who should go, but it was class Y5S's turn for their next swimming lesson so it was only fair they should be the ones to visit new centre for this wonderful experience".

Moveable floors

The centre will contain a 10 lane 50 metre pool and a 25 metre multi-purpose pool with springboards and diving platforms. Both will have moveable floors that allow their depths to be varied so that they can accommodate a range of activities (from aqua aerobics to water polo) and allow swimmers at all levels to use them.

Curving windows

The centre is big enough to hold 500 spectators and could stage high profile national and regional competitions.

Every single raindrop which falls on the building's roof will be collected, filtered and used in the pool. The pool also has a "super insulated external fabric" and a combined heat and power unit to maximise efficient energy use and minimise energy waste.

World class facilities

Councillor Mel Speding, Sunderland City Council's Cabinet Member for Culture and Community Services said: "I would use that American word 鈥渁wesome鈥� to describe it.

"It's the biggest pool between Leeds and Edinburgh and it will be a major asset for the City and the whole of the region ... creating world class facilities for local communities to enjoy with an innovative design that accommodates grass roots participation to future Olympic champions."

The pool is 50 metres in length

In addition, with thanks to Sunderland City Council in partnership with the Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust, the centre will house a state-of-the-art Wellness Centre which will be designed to help improve their health and well-being through the provision of physical activity opportunities, lifestyle advice and education.

Up sticks

One family are planning to move from Newcastle to Sunderland so their daughter can take full advantage of the Aquatic Centre.

Phoebe, 12, has won 11 gold medals at County level and has competed at a national level. The young swimmer trains seven times a week and looks forward to have the 50 metre pool.

Phoebe's father Tony explains the big move: "Getting over here and getting back [to Ponteland] is going to be too much so we've decided to up sticks and move over.

"We also have a shop in Durham, so it just makes sense to be on this side of the Metro Centre traffic."

Hear the full interview with Tony and Phoebe by clicking this link: