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."
No comments:
Post a Comment