The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio are the most anticipated international sporting event of the summer, but shortly after the Brazilian-hosted affair comes to a close, the FINA Short Course World Championships will be taking place.
The championships are scheduled for December 6-11th, with over 1,000 swimmers from 170 countries set to compete at the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre (WFCU) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. This year represents the 13th edition of the short course event and Windsor signifies the first time ever the country of Canada will play host to the competition.
Serving as the warm-up pool for the championships is the newly built ‘WFCU Centre Community Pool’, a 6-lane, 25m permanent construct whose ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last week. Surprisingly, as far as construction projects go, the pool was completed two months ahead of schedule and also under budget. Originally estimated to carry a cost of $7.4 million, the building’s tab came in around $7 million.
The idea behind a permanent structure as opposed to matching the temporary competition pool that will be erected in the main WFCU bowl for the championships is that the new structure would continue to be utilized by the community post-competition.
“I think this facility will be very well used,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said upon the facility’s official opening. “City council in their wisdom actually said, ‘We’re going to spend a little more money and we’re going to get a permanent pool,” Dilkens said. “We consulted with the community and asked what they wanted to see in the facility.”
6 lane 25m warm down pool for over 1,000 swimmers??? Seems like warm ups/downs are going to be interesting
There is a 10 lane 50m nearby for those not racing in a given session.