London Aquatics Centre: Swim in the wake of 2012's Olympic legends — for just £3.50

 
Nice place for a dip: Inside the Olympic aquatic centre Picture: Jeremy Selwyn
26 February 2014

The Aquatics Centre saw drama, controversy and high emotion during the Games, including Ellie Simmonds winning four medals and Tom Daley’s bronze in the 10-metre dive.

From Saturday, Londoners will be able to use the same pools, diving platforms and gyms as the elite atletes — all for £3.50, the price of a local pool.

Daley is now based there and the centre will also be the official new home of high performance diving.

The Standard was given a preview of the pool and was among the first to test it out. The distinctive water-inspired structure, designed by Zaha Hadid, includes two 50-metre pools — the competition pool which will be used for lane and fitness swimming and a training pool for family and fun sessions with inflatables and lessons.

It also includes the 25 metre diving pool and platforms of up to 10 metres. There is even a “dry” diving zone which includes a trampoline and harness, foam pit, stretch area and Olympic bar sets so that divers can practise their diving technique without getting wet.

What a dive: The boards where diver Tom Daley scored bronze Picture: Jeremy Selwyn

Other facilities include a gym, cafe and creche. Since the end of the Games, temporary seating stands that sat 17,500 people have been removed and 2,800 square metres of glass and doors have been installed to allow natural light into the venue. It is operated by charitable social enterprise GLL and will host national and international competitions.

It is also holding a swimathon for Sport Relief — supported by the Standard’s Dispossessed Fund — on March 23. The centre will run swimming and diving lessons and community sessions and has a Poolpod lift which enables people with mobility difficulties to get into the pool easily.

Swimming will cost from £3.50 per go and membership will cost £29.50 a month to swim, £28.95 to use the gym — including the one at the Copper Box Arena at the Olympic Park — or £45 to use all facilities at both venues.

Tom Daley is now based at the Aquatic Centre

Dennis Hone, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “This is an exciting moment in the legacy of the Games. The iconic Aquatics Centre with its unique design will now be open for the public to enjoy.

"We promised the former Olympic and Paralympic venues would have long-term legacy use and we have delivered. Local communities and visitors alike can come and swim in this amazing new venue. This is another part of our plan to create a new heart of the city with world class sporting venues open to the community as well as new homes and jobs.”

Swim venue: The London 2012 Olympics Aquatic centre Picture: Jeremy Selwyn
THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOL COMPLEX TODAY PICTURE JEREMY SELWYN 24/02/2014

Peter Bundey, deputy managing director of GLL, said: “The venue has been converted into a sport and leisure facility for the whole community, hosting arguably the best aquatic facility in the world. With access available to local and London swimming clubs, it will be a unique training venue for our stars of the future.”

The pool is the third Olympic venue to re-open after the Games following the Copper Box Arena and Lee Valley White Water Centre.

The Velodrome is reopening as Lee Valley VeloPark on March 31, followed by the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in May next year.

The Olympic Stadium is being transformed into a multi-use venue and is to become the permanent home of West Ham from 2016.

Mayor Boris Johnson said: “After a post-Olympic makeover, London’s majestic Aquatics Centre is now flinging open its doors for everyone to enjoy, whether an elite athlete or enthusiastic amateur.

“All of the world class sporting venues on the magnificent Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park have secured bright, futures, dispelling fears of white elephants and helping to drive our ambitious regeneration plans for east London.”

'Like nothing's changed since the Olympics'

IT is a year and a half ago since I was last at the Aquatics Centre reporting for this paper on the London Games.

But as I look up at the diving boards a nd see Tom Daley’s unmistakable figure spinning through the air into the diving pool it’s almost like nothing has changed.

Of course it feels very different to be standing in my swimwear on the poolside as opposed to watching from the sweaty press area up in the Gods. And as the first journalist to experience the pool since the Games, I feel hugely privileged.

As I swim through the clear water looking out at the view of the ArcelorMittal Orbit “helter skelter” tower and think of all the Olympic and Paralympic records that were set here it feels quite surreal.

Thanks to the new windows and reduced seating areas it feels much airier and brighter than it did and the water doesn’t feel as chemical as some public pools. Neither does it have the usual muffled sounds of swimming pool acoustics.

As I mess around on the lower diving boards, Daley himself walks by and comments that the diving pool is nicer because “it’s warmer in there”. It’s exciting to think how great it’s going to be for schoolchildren and aspiring divers when they see the likes of Daley at their local pool and, with entrance costs reasonable, he will hopefully inspire a whole new generation of Olympic divers from the capital.

Miranda Bryant

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