Etihad Arena ready to host FINA World Swimming Championships

With only two days to go until the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) kicks off, Abu Dhabi Sports Council has on Tuesday released a fascinating time-lapse video on the construction of the FINA pool at Yas Island’s Etihad Arena.

With the support of a high-skilled and experienced workforce of 25 professionals from pool design specialists – Myrtha Pools, who were flown in from Italy, the championship’s main pool and warm-up pool were installed in just 14 days, transforming the Mena region’s largest state-of-the-art indoor entertainment establishment into a purpose-built swimming venue.

This week, over 1,100 athletes representing over 180 national federations from across the globe will be competing at Yas Island, in an exhilarating competition that is expected to be watched by more than thousands of spectators inside the venue and millions worldwide.

Construction was carried out non-stop for the first 72 hours of the project, with the expert team working on rota basis shifts for the first three days.

In the space of 9 days, the team successfully built both the main competition (25 metres x 26 metres) and the warm-up (25m x 20m) pools with every piece of equipment shipped from Italy specifically for the prestigious global event.

The two pools are surrounded by a temporary 3,000m2 deck raised to 2.2m at pool level, provided by Arena Middle East. The impressive-looking deck was put together in 12 days by an experienced team of 50 professionals, who worked 12 hours per day. The local, regional, and international swimmers will be able to access the pool deck through four purpose-built staircases.

Following the completion of the construction, the main competition pool was filled in just 47 hours, using state-of-the-art technologies that will ensure the water quality will be perfect and crystal clear for elite athletes to showcase the very best in aquatic sporting talent.

A time-lapse video of the High Dive Tower and Diving Springboards was also captured. Sponsored by Omega, the infrastructures will be at the centre of all the action during this week’s Aquatics Festival, which will be hosted in parallel with the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) on Yas Island.

Completed in 21 days, a specialised raised deck has been built over the stairs into the Bay Housing with the space accommodating the equipment used for timing, scoring and technology officials.

The High Dive Tower has multiple platforms at 10m (west side) and at 7.5m (south side). It also has three vertical platforms installed at 5m, 20m and 27m.  In addition, a 3m springboard deck has also been created for a diving exhibition event.

With the infrastructure now in place, Abu Dhabi is gearing up to welcome some of the world’s best elite swimmers, for an action-packed six days, showcasing the very best sporting talent.