The first “concrete” signs that U.S. Nationals are upon us have arrived in Irvine, California, as the construction of a 2,000-seat temporary grandstand at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center is underway. Since the facility’s rennovation in 2004, the facility has hosted multiple U.S. National and Junior National Championship events, including the 2010 Pan Pac Championships.
One week from today, and from July 25th-29th, it will play host to the 2018 U.S. National Championships, which among other things will serve as the selection event for the 2018 Pan Pac Championships, 2019 Pan American Games, 2019 World University Games, and as the first leg (along with Pan Pacs) of qualifying for the 2019 World Championships.
The grandstand will take 1 week to construct. Materials arrived in the form of 11 semi-loads of equipment, plus 3 truck-fulls of concrete to serve as ballast (about 120,000 pounds).
Tickets, which are almost 30% cheaper than they were for last year’s Nationals, are on sale. More details about those are available here.
See pictures of the construction below, courtesy of Irvine Novaquatics coach Ken Lamont:
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
2018 US Nationals Irvine Pool Build (Courtesy: Ken Lamont)
If it hosts multiple events, why not just build permanent ones?
Mr. LaMont should be wearing safety goggles and a hard hat
Way to go, Ken! Looks like you’re having a blast 🙂