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People stunned to discover where Olympic athletes are actually swimming during games
Home>News>Sport
Published 16:34 29 Jul 2024 GMT+1

People stunned to discover where Olympic athletes are actually swimming during games

There has been a lot of talk about where athletes will swim in the 2024 Olympics

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

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What does Taylor Swift have in common with the Olympians of Paris 2024 may sound like a trick question, but the stars of Team GB's swimming team will soon be performing in the place that the singer recently visited on her Eras Tour.

Now there has been a lot of conversation around where swimming events for Paris 2024 will be taking place, with a certain river in the French capital gaining a lot of attention.

The Paris 2024 swimming venue. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
The Paris 2024 swimming venue. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Fortunately for most of the competing athletes, only the marathon swimming event and the swimming leg of the triathlon are scheduled to take part in the Seine - with star swimmer Adam Peaty taking home a silver medal in a stadium in the western suburbs of Paris.

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More specifically, at La Défense Arena.

Now if there any rugby fans reading it's likely they'll currently be scratching their heads and going 'huh?' at the idea the home of the Racing 92 rugby union club is currently playing host to two swimming pools.

But that's because the ground has undergone some a serious facelift for the games over the past couple of months, with the footage of the transformation having now been posted online.

The project was undertaken by Myrtha Pools, with the company sharing an impressive time-lapse of the work on social media.

Check out the footage of the incredible transformation below:

Turning a rugby pitch and concert hall into an Olympic swimming venue is unsurprisingly just as difficult as it sounds, with the project taking around 36 days to complete.

The transformation has seen the temporary pools be placed on top of Racing 92's artificial pitch, with nine rows of seating having been removed to make way for two 50-metre pools - with one for training and one for competition.

Competitions taking place La Défense Arena include the ongoing Olympic swimming category, water polo and para-swimming, both of which will take place next month.

Speaking about the transformation in a press release, La Defense events manager Denis Navizet called the transformation a 'technical and architectural feat', saying: "All in all, we had 60 days to build this highly attractive swimming arena.

"We succeeded in delivering the site on time. It was a real technical and architectural feat."

While the transformation has been a huge success for La Défense Arena, Myrtha Pools and the Olympics, Brit Adam Peaty fell short of gold ambition in his competition.

Swimmer Adam Peaty won silver at La Defense Arena. (Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Swimmer Adam Peaty won silver at La Defense Arena. (Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The 29-year-old swimmer had hoped to match Michael Phelps' record of winning a gold medal in the same event at three successive games.

However, he was pipped to the post by Italy's Nicolò Martinenghi and forced to share the silver medal with USA swimmer Nic Fink in the men's 100 metres breaststroke final on Sunday (28 July).

Team GB's current medal count - 8

Gold medallists

  • Rosalind Canter, Laura Collett, Tom McEwen: Equestrian - Eventing team
  • Tom Pidcock: Mountain Bike - Men's cross country

Silver medallists

  • Anna Henderson: Cycling - Women's individual time trial
  • Adam Peaty: Swimming - Men's 100m breaststroke
  • Tom Daley and Noah Williams: Diving - Men's synchronised 10m platform

Bronze medallists

  • Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen: Diving - Women's synchronised 3m springboard
  • Kimberley Woods: Canoe - Women's slalom
  • Laura Collett: Equestrian - Individual eventing
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/myrtha_pools

Topics: Olympics, Sport

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

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@_brencoco

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