A move by city officials to focus on general membership of the Canada Games Centre has competitive swimmers and their families wondering about their own practice times coming this fall.

"We understand that council has given direction - an overall broad direction - that facilities like the Canada Games Centre be available to the public," Pat Duncan, the president of the Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club, told council in a presentation at its Monday evening meeting.

"What we're asking for is (the city to) consider user groups such as the Whitehorse Glacier Bears and our contribution to the community as a whole in interpreting that overall direction."

The territory's former Liberal premier was joined by about 25 other club members and their families in council chambers.

The city's move to focus on the general membership of the recreation centre, and making its facilities like the aquatic centre available to all, would see the Glacier Bears lose access to two of the eight lanes available for practice between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. through the week in the upcoming schedule.

Officially, the club has always ha access to only six lanes but in practice has been using all eight for years.

The club hasn't seen a lot of general swimmers at those times nor been provided with numbers on how many use the pool at that time, Duncan said. After conferring with club members, she added at most, there are four public swimmers. Quite often, the two public lanes are empty, she said.

Two lanes will also be lost for the club's Saturday morning practice as well because of the policy to have two lanes available to general users at all times, Duncan said.

That leaves competitive swimmers facing later evening or early morning practices.

"You really, honestly can't expect a 12-year-old to swim until 8 o'clock at night and get up and get to practice in the morning at 6 (a.m.)," Duncan said, after arguing adults using the centre are likely in a better position to adapt their schedules.

The move to provide at least two public lanes in the pool comes out of a policy that's always been in place, city manager Dennis Shewfelt and games centre manager Art Manhire confirmed in separate interviews.

"It's always been there," Manhire said this morning.

He went on to note for the past couple of years, the city has made an exception. It has permitted the Glacier Bears to book the entire pool for their practices, though it was made clear that as memberships rose, that scheduling situation would not continue.

In an interview this morning, Duncan said while there have been some hints around it, it wasn't clear until the club began working with the city this year on the issue that the club would indeed lose the two lanes.

With memberships to the Canada Games Centre rising, the move was made to follow the policy and keep public lanes open at all times.

Earlier, there was an average of about 2,000 people coming through the doors of the centre every day, Manhire said. That increased to about 2,500 people per day this year, he said.

However, he acknowledged, that doesn't consider what parts of the centre are being used by those people - whether it be the pool, the running track, rinks, wellness centre or either of the two gymnasiums.

The aquatic centre also has a counter showing an average of about 1,000 people using it each day, though they may be part of a user group or a general user looking to go for a swim.

Manhire was quick to point out the 120 members of the Glacier Bears have seen their pool time expand from 137 lane hours per week last year to 202 lane hours this year; however, it means practising earlier in the day.

"It's a balancing act at the best of times," he said of trying to accommodate both user groups and the general public.

The situation has seen the club have a difficult time scheduling for the fall and it may end up turning away prospective members, Duncan said.

She cited an e-mail she recently received from new residents of Whitehorse who have competitive swimmers in the family.

She will soon have to e-mail the family back to tell them whether there's no room for the swimmers, given the situation with the lanes.

"What a welcome to Whitehorse," Duncan said.

The Glacier Bears are not a closed club and have no desire to be, she said.

The current situation could mean openings only occur when other swimmers quit.

Pools in other communities - Victoria, Fort St. John and Vernon, B.C. - have a schedule where there is no lane swimming during certain hours to accommodate their swim clubs.

In Whitehorse, she pointed out, there's no other pool available for practices, which means the club, unlike skating or hockey, isn't able to book time at another pool.

Duncan is hopeful the city will move back to a schedule permitting it to use all eight lanes of the pool at one time. Mayor Bev Buckway also cited the importance of balancing the needs of user groups with the general public, in an interview following Monday's meeting.

The move comes, she said, not so much as a result of complaints, but rather as part of a bigger philosophy to meet the needs of all residents, she said.

City staff will provide a report to council on the situation at an upcoming council meeting.

Duncan noted the city's final date for scheduling the pool for the fall is June 30, just a day after council's next meeting.