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October 3rd, 2009

The International Olympics Committee announced yesterday that Rio de Janeiro has won the vote to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Rio won in what was a very close vote over other finalists Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo.

Chicago and Rio were the favorites going into the final vote. Asia (Beijing) hosted the 2008 summer games and Europe (London) will host the 2016 games, so most figured that the 2016 bid would go to either Rio de Janeiro or Chicago. South America has never hosted an Olympic Games, and many felt as though they were due. This, combined with Rio’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup is likely what put their bid over the top.

While it is certainly disappointing for those of us in the United States who were hoping for Chicago to get the call, Rio is not a bad consolation prize. Because of Rio’s longitude, American viewers will still be able to watch prime-time events in prime time.

As for the Aquatics centers, the following is a breakdown of the proposed Aquatics centers from each bid city, as well as a more in depth look at Rio’s Maria Lenk National Aquatics Center.

Chicago-After many changes to their Aquatics center proposal, Chicago settled on an outdoor facility in Franklin Park, which is located North West of downtown, right by O’Hare International Airport. The Franklin Park Aquatics center was to be a temporary facility that would have utilized a temporary pool, similar to the Myrtha pool used in Omaha for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. The Aquatics center was to have a maximum capacity of 20,000 spectators for swimming.

Madrid- The Madrid Aquatics Center was planned regardless of the outcome of the 2016 vote, and construction began in 2005. This massive, permanent facility is expected to be completed in 2011. The $266 million facility, when completed, will be over 1.1 million square feet, and will have a retractable roof. Its maximum capacity for swimming will be 16,500 spectators, and it will have 4 pools to host different events, including synchronized swimming, water polo, and diving. Expect this to become one of the world' premier permanent Aquatics facilities, and become the host of many major international meets.

Madrid had perhaps the most ambitious project for an open-water facility. The $94 million facility would be a shared venue for the rowing, kayaking, and canoeing competitions, and would include the construction of an entirely new waterway. There would be a maximum capacity of 14,000, and the facility would be located in Gatafe, about 7 miles south of Madrid proper.

Tokyo- The Tatsumi Aquatics Center, located in the popular Tatsumi Seaside Park, would have added on to a pre-existing facility. This would be an indoor facility, and would have had a capacity of 20,000 spectators during the games. The 2-building facility would be reduced to 1 facility after the games, and would reduce its capacity to 5,000 spectators for post-games events.

Tokyo's bid included $26 million to transform the existing Odaiba Marine Park into a spectator venue for both open-water swimming and the triathalon. The park is on Tokyo Bay. The entire Tokyo layout had 95% of the events taking place within an 5-mile radius, making it the most compact games in history.

Rio de Janeiro- Swimming and synchronized swimming for the 2016 Olympics will take place at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. This facility, where construction is expected to begin in 2013 and completed in 2015, will be a $38 million facility located in the Barra de Tijuca neighborhood, very close to the Lenk Aquatics Centre. The planned design of this facility is similar in appearance to the Beijing “water cube,” both in shape and in its futuristic feel. The building will replace what is currently a public park, and will have a maximum capacity of 18,000. The inital architect on the facility is BCMF Arquitetos.

The winning bid for the 2016 Olympics included using the Maria Lenk National Aquatics Center for Water Polo and Diving The Lenk Aquatics Center was originally built for the 2007 Pan Am Games, and the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) took control over it in 2008 with plans to use it in the 2016 bid. The facility is an open-air facility that features covered stands, but an uncovered pool. It is a part of the National Training Centre that Rio planned on developing regardless of the outcome of the vote for the host of the 2016 Olympics.

According to its Candidate File, the BOC plans to spend about 15 million dollars to prepare the facility for the 2016 Olympics. The facility will be located approximately 3 miles from the Olympic Village.

The center is named for Maria Lenk, who was Brazil’s first major swimming hero. In 1939, she became the first Brazilian swimming world-record holder, when she took the 200m breaststroke title with a time of 2:56.0 at the age of 24. (As a point of reference about how far swimming has come since 1939, the current world record in that event is a 2:20.12 held by Canadian Annamay Pierse, and it takes a 2:37.09 to even qualify for the U.S. Summer Nationals meet in the same event). In 1932 in Los Angeles, at 17, she became the first South-American woman to participate in the Olympics in any sport.

The open-water Marathon swimming course will be at the famous Fort Copacabana Beach, far away from the other aquatics venues. Seating for 5,000 will be constructed for this venue, at a cost of $10 million.

There has been some concern over support for swimming in Brazil, in light of the recent cancellation of the World Cup of Swimming event that was supposed to be hosted there next month. The event was cancelled by Brazilian officials who claimed a lack of financial support for the event. This comes in the wake of Brazil’s recent success in the world swimming scene in the form of Cesar Cielo, who won Brazil’s first gold medals at the World Swimming Championships in the last 27 years when he won the 50 and 100 meter freestyle in 2009 in Rome. This embarrassment means that it’s very possible that the Lenk Aquatics Centre will not host a major international meet between now and the 2016 Olympics. Rio was also supposed to host events from 2010-2013 as well, but has pulled out of those as well. This could possibly leave the facility unprepared and untested, especially if another major swimming superstar, like Michael Phelps, emerges in time for the 2016 Olympics.