Wednesday, May 3, 2023

The pools at Montreal's Parc Olympique A history of excellence


 

Image Source: Antoine Saito/World Aquatics

The World Aquatics Diving World Cup tour is coming to the sports-mad city of Montreal this week, with the divers competing in a facility that has hosted, in recent years, three consecutive Diving World Series and last year's World Junior Diving Championships.

A venerable venue that has also previously held 11 Diving Grand Prix events, the venue has been refurbished with Myrtha RenovAction technology.

Well-known in sporting circles, the pools have been in use since the city hosted the 1976 Olympic Games.

The Parc Olympique is an iconic sports area designed by architect Roger Taillibert for Montreal 1976. It’s easy to spot thanks to the Esplanade, the biggest stadium in Canada and the tallest inclined tower in the world.

Just beneath the tower, you’ll find the high-performance sports centre for 12 different Olympic sports. As Cédric Essiminy, Public Relations Advisor at Parc Olympique, told us, the centre has two different identities.

“The centre is a high-performance facility for top athletes, but it is also open to the general public. So citizens can swim near Olympic athletes – a special opportunity for children – You can feel the DNA of sports, it’s very inspiring for that practising swimmer, water polo player or artistic swimmer.”

In fact, at Parc Olympique one can train and compete in different aquatic disciplines thanks to the 50m pool alongside a world-class indoor springboard and platform diving pool, Essiminy explained. “Now we have three high diving platforms – 20m, 18m and 15m. We are the only indoor facility in North America to offer three high diving platforms where athletes can train in the best condition every day, and so we are able to host diving events no matter the weather.”

That’s why World Aquatics chose Parc Olympique for last year's World Junior Diving Championships, and now for the second stage of the Diving World Cup.

In 2015, in order to bring the centre into compliance with international standards, Parc Olympique decided to renovate. All the pools were refurbished with Myrtha RenovAction technology which allows concrete pools to no longer become obsolete as they age.

This allows venues to avoid a long and significant demolition period to come back into compliance with the latest and highest standard of regulations.

"Renovating a site that is unique, we had to be careful to preserve it, and at the same time, we wanted to put the facility into the 21st century," said Essiminy.  "That’s why we chose this equipment and technology. For us, it was essential to be on par with the best. We are an Olympic facility and we can’t compromise on the level of the equipment.

"When you renovate you have to stay 'Olympic,' and to be 'Olympic' is to be the best. So we had to keep that in mind when we renovated. It’s part of our history. At Parc Olympique, the goal is to train athletes giving them the closest experience to international competition."

With seating for 2,500 spectators, the only issue in hosting major events is to minimize the closure time for its daily patrons. But Essiminy once again confirms that competition is in the DNA of Parc Olympique.

"We have been hosting events for more than 45 years, so I can say we quite know how hosting huge events works," Essiminy said.  "We have a lot of expertise in these situations. We also became more relevant by renovating the complex in 2015. We went through a major renovation, including the pools, and that investment allows us to be a more compelling choice for hosting major events."

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