Squirtle makes a splash

The turtle mascot for the highly-anticipated 'Wahooo!' water park has been named ... as final testing takes place on the array of rides at one of Bahrain City Centre's star attractions.

The coolest young turtle in town will be called Squirtle and three young GulfWeekly readers will be among the first to enjoy the multi-million dinar splash-tacular venue when it opens in a few days time.

More than 500 participants from over 25 schools in Bahrain took part in the competition, which was held in June.

All the names suggested were considered but Squirtle seemed most fitting as its rhymes with turtle and has a squirting water association.

Wahooo!'s general manager Damien Latham was overwhelmed by the response. "The name had to sum up the surfy, sunny, funny character of Squirtle. He's a laid back dude and a great ambassador for the waterpark and we wanted him to reflect everything that we want our visitors to enjoy. It's the perfect name and Squirtle loves it!"

The competition was open to children between six to 16 who had to propose a name that they believed best suited the mascot. Announcing the selected name was delayed as Wahooo! management says it was waiting for children to get back to school after the delayed opening.

Mitchell Sandy, 11, from Jannusan, was the first to suggest the name and won a Wahooo! family pass to enjoy all the facilities once the waterpark is open and a goodie bag. Scarlet Robinson, 11, from Riffa, and Rebecca Dench, 11, from Janabiyah, also came up with Squirtle and won a family pass and tickets for the waterpark respectively.

The youngsters attend St Christopher's School and had no idea they all had individually come up with the same brainwave until they met at the awards ceremony on Saturday!

Mitchell said: "We were shown around the rides and we can't wait to try them all out! The staff members were testing some of them and seemed to be having a really good time!"

The temperature-controlled indoor/outdoor waterpark promises to offer an incredible mix of slides, chutes and rising rapids. Among the many aqua-attractions is the exciting 'Flowrider', one of the world's largest full size surfing machines, a 230 metres 'Masterblaster Rollercoaster' and a four-lane 'Matt Racer' that loops around the outer edge of the 15,000 square metres waterpark.

The green sea turtle was chosen as the mascot to highlight the dwindling numbers of the species in the world, particularly in the Middle East. Squirtle the Turtle will be Wahooo's ambassador for environmental awareness and will help spread the message of conserving the planet to all its visitors.

Wahooo! waterpark is owned by Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, the team that brought the wonder of snow to Dubai, and is set to open its doors over the last weekend of October.