North Down's plans for an overall sporting centre, incorporating the pool, are eye-catching to say the least and with major input from Commonwealth Games/Bangor coach Paul Dennis as well as Swim Ulster they may well be the frontrunners.

Castlereagh will no doubt feel they are on a par as both councils await the decision by Sport Northern Ireland in conjunction with DCAL in July. Both will have put £5m to the £15m from DCAL and then cover running costs.

"In our bid we are very ambitious. The aquatic arena will have seating for 1,000 and that can go up to 1,500 and we want to bring major long course and short course events," said Reid.

"We want to maximise the economic benefits and also the training and development of talent. There will be a ten-lane pool and a 25m warm-down pool, which will also be used for diving.

"We are working with S&P architects, who are the associate architects for the London 2012 aquatic centre.

"They are very experienced in building 50m pools and their most recent one in the south of England has been a good model for us. Along with the pool we will have a fitness suite for 120 people and suites for strength and conditioning. There will also be seven five-a-side floodlit pitches and all these things will help to pay for the running costs of the pool which are high."

Should funding not be made available to North Down, the Council will still open a new leisure facility at Valentine's Playing Fields, replacing the existing centre in Bangor.

But Reid and his team are only thinking of victory and becoming the centre of excellence for Ulster swimming, which is crying out for an injection of professional development from top to bottom - whether that is in coaching structures or in marketing and public relations.

"Should we get the pool, right away we can double the number of lessons available to the public," adds Reid.

"This is not just about the elite but the community as well. But obviously we would seek to have a partnership with Swim Ulster and parent company Swim Ireland in order to have a structure that can develop champions. "