WATCH: Etihad Arena transforms into swimming destination for Fina World Swimming Championships
Etihad Arena ready for Abu Dhabi showpiece with than 1,100 athletes
With only two days to go until the Fina World Swimming Championships kicks off, Abu Dhabi Sports Council has revealed a time-lapse video on the construction of the swimming pool at Yas Island’s Etihad Arena.
With the support of a high-skilled and experienced workforce of 25 professionals from specialists Myrtha Pools, who were flown in from Italy, the championships’ 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.
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 nine 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 3,000 m-sq deck raised to 2.2m at pool level, provided by Arena Middle East. The 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.
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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 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. 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 championships on Yas Island.
This week, over 1,100 athletes representing over 180 national federations from across the globe will be competing at Yas Island with millions watching worldwide.