British 50m freestyle champion Matt Tutty welcomes pool plan

It is hoped the pool to be built at Corby will be completed in three years, ready for the 2012 London games.

Chris Mallender from Corby Borough Council hopes the pool will also be used by teams attending the Olympics.

Leading swimmers have welcomed the scheme because they will now be able to swim in Olympic conditions to prepare for the competition.

Matt Tutty, British 50m free style champion, uses the existing pool at least three times a week.

He said: "There is a big difference in swimming technique in a small pool compared to an Olympic sized one and unless you train in real conditions your performance can be affected."

Mr Mallender said: "We're hoping teams coming to the 2012 Olympics will use Corby as their base and use the full sized pool and the athletics facilities we intend to build.

"The next stage is to find the funding and we are hoping much of the cost will come from grants."