First look: The new FINA World Championship swimming pools

They are being flown in from Italy.

There is only 50 days until Abu Dhabi makes a massive splash on the global stage as the FINA World Swimming Championships comes to town.

And to mark the occasion, Abu Dhabi Sports Council and FINA have provided the first-look images of the main competition pool where more than 1,000 athletes will compete for some 44 world championship titles.

Two separate pools will be installed at Yas Island’s Etihad Arena by world-renowned pool design specialists, Myrtha Pools, transforming the Middle’s East’s largest state-of-the-art arena into a purpose-built swimming venue.

The competition pool measures 25m x 26m with warm-up pool coming at 25m x 20m. Both pools are being specially flown in from Italy in containers and will be built from the ground up.

His Excellency Aref Alawani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council said it was exciting times for sports in the city.

“We’re excited to watch the arena transform into an aquatics haven for the event. And of course, it is not only inside the Arena that our operations are focused – a 27m high dive tower will be built into the water of Yas Bay, adjacent to Etihad Arena, along with three spring diving boards. The results will be spectacular.”

It is the latest news from the championships which saw the first major name to take to the pool announced this week.

Tunisia’s Olympic gold medalist, Ahmed El Hafnaoui, will look to continue his good form that saw secure the 400-metre freestyle title in Tokyo in world record time

 

Tickets for the event start from AED 10 and can be purchased online at Etihad Arena.

 

For more sports news in Abu Dhabi, visit Yalla – Abu Dhabi Life

 

Image source provided

Matt Cassidy

When he is not hunting for the latest piece of Abu Dhabi news, Matt is ticking off his UAE bucket-list experiences (although he does love to take a break to test out the fine restaurants and bars of the capital). An armchair sports lover, he is on a personal mission to attend every sporting event in the UAE to make out for most likely missing the big one in Doha in November.