Paris Olympic Aquatic Centre inaugurated

Image: IOC

The Paris Olympic Aquatic Centre has opened ahead of schedule for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Located in Seine-Saint-Denis, in the city of Saint-Denis, the venue will host the artistic swimming and diving events, as well as the preliminary phase of water polo.

Olympics.com said the Olympic Aquatic Centre (OAC) was officially inaugurated in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024.

Estanguet said, “It is with great emotion that we receive the keys to the Olympic Aquatics Centre. We’re very proud to see this magnificent facility delivered by the Greater Paris Metropolis, and what’s more, a month ahead of schedule!”

French President Macron was proud to inaugurate a venue that will have a long-lasting legacy, not only for athletes but also the general public.

He said, “We want to welcome the world, our athletes to win a lot of medals and it to be an incredible moment of French pride. But we also want these structures to remain, as with the Olympic and Paralympic Village. For us, this is one of the big elements of heritage.”

The OAC, along with Le Bourget Climbing Wall, is the only permanent sports facility to be built for the Paris 2024 Games.

In 2024, it will welcome the world’s greatest athletes for the artistic swimming, water polo and diving events.

Looking beyond the Games, the Aquatics Centre has been designed to address the needs of Seine-Saint-Denis (its host region), and the French swimming community, which will now have a facility that can host the biggest national and international competitions.

The OAC connects to the neighbouring Stade de France over a footbridge spanning the A1 motorway, and is a meaningful public investment for Seine Saint Denis, which is seriously lacking in sports facilities.

The OAC’s novel configuration is modular: it will be able to switch from a 5,000-seat venue during the Games to a 2,500-seat facility to host neighbourhood events afterwards.

Its timber structure and roof frame are designed to blend seamlessly into the surrounding greenery. With a 5,000 square metre roof covered with photovoltaic panels, it is one of France’s largest urban solar farms which supplies all the energy that the centre needs.

The OAC has four pools in total, the main swimming pool, a diving pool, a 25m training pool and another pool.

The decision to locate the OAC in Saint-Denis was in most part made due to a desire to highlight Seine-Saint-Denis; a dynamic area of the Ile-de-France region of Paris.

After Paris 2024, the OAC will remain open for the residents of the Greater Paris region and global athletes.

Located at the heart of the Saulnier development zone, the OAC is part of an ambitious urban transformation to create an attractive and accessible district, forming the centrepiece of a vast 1.5-hectare park in which almost 450 trees will be planted.

This state-of-the-art facility will host the European Swimming Championships from 26 July to 9 August 2026, almost 40 years after the last event was staged in France.

Supported by the largest concave timber frame in the world, spanning 90 metres and using a framework of more than 2,700 m³ of wood, the venue has been designed to coexist with the future plans for the district.

Macron also highlighted the various possibilities the OAC will offer after the Games, with the venue set to host 5-a-side football, tennis-padel courts and a 1,000 square metre climbing gym.

He added, “This structure will be adjusted after the Games to make it a sport complex for all, to keep young people engaged with aquatic activities and swimming, but also for sport climbing, football and padel.”

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