As we reported earlier this week, the Australian federal government and the Queensland state government are set to spend approximately $4.9 billion USD on venues for the 2032 Summer Olympic Games in Brisbane.
According to the Brisbane 2032 master plan, six new venues will be developed in time to host competition events for Brisbane 2032. Construction of new venues is scheduled to commence in 2025 and all new venues will be delivered at least 12 months ahead of the Games.
Competition venues will be hosted in the following locations:
- Brisbane—22 venues
- Gold Coast—6 venues
- Sunshine Coast—4 venues
- Regional Queensland—3 venues (Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba)
- Interstate—2 venues (Sydney, Melbourne)
Specific to swimming, the Brisbane Arena will house a temporarily-constructed pool at which the swimming, water polo finals and Paralympic swimming events will take place. The Guardian reports that Brisbane Arena will be converted into a music venue after the Olympic and Paralympic Games conclude.
Temporary pools are not exactly uncommon for elite international swimming events. Although Paris 2024 is building a new 5,000-seat swimming venue to host artistic swimming diving and some water polo competition, organizers are also constructing a 15,000-seat temporary venue to host pool swimming.
The United States Olympic Swimming Trials have used temporary pools on four separate occasions, most recently in 2021.
Great article! Constructing temporary pools for the Olympic Games is a practical and efficient solution. These temporary structures allow host cities to provide state-of-the-art aquatic facilities without the long-term financial and environmental burdens of permanent structures. They showcase the ingenuity and adaptability of event organizers, ensuring that athletes have the best possible conditions to compete while minimizing the impact on the host city. Temporary pools also contribute to the sustainability of the Olympic Games by promoting resource conservation and leaving a smaller footprint after the event. Overall, this approach strikes a balance between meeting the needs of the athletes and host cities, making it a smart choice for future Olympic Games.
A temporary pool in a multi-purpose arena really is the most logical way to host major swimming championships because pretty much nowhere truly needs a single purpose aquatic stadium that can seat 15,000 people.
That’s nice of them to build a pool so Thomas Heilman has somewhere to swim