According to local news and USA Swimming, construction has begun for the main competition pool at the Chi Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, the site of next month’s USA Swimming Olympic Trials. As has happened in previous Trials, the Myrtha pool is placed on top of the gym floor in the 18,000-seat arena, which is used for other sports, including basketball and hockey. A temporary deck is then built up around the tank, creating an elevated structure that covers the first few rows of seating.
Construction began on Monday and is expected to take about a week, at which point the local fire department will begin filling the pool with water in preparation for the Wave I meet, which will kick off June 4th. Due to Covid limitations, USA Swimming has split the meet into two waves, with the first wave running from June 4th-7th, and the second wave, which features faster standards and will serve as the main selection meet, running from June 13th-20th.
Per local news reports, construction on the warmup pool, which takes place in a separate part of the Chi Health Center, will lag a few days behind the competition pool, due to the fact that the convention center space it will occupy is still being rented out, but the warmup pool should be completed before the meet begins.
As happened with the previous three rounds of Olympic Trials held in Omaha, once the meet is over, the pools will be shipped to other locations and installed in permanent facilities. The 2021 competition pool will be headed to V3 Sports in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The previous pools have ended up in a variety of locations, with perhaps the most prominent being the 2008 competition pool, which is now part of the Collegiate School Aquatics Center in Richmond, Virginia, which has hosted Pro Swim Series meets and was one of the sites for last fall’s multi-site U.S. Open.
Below, watch the video of the 2016 Olympic Trials pool being filled:
Watch the 2012 Olympic Trials pool being filled here:
With the pool construction humming along and Trials imminent after five long years, keep on our Trials channels for all the latest coverage for teh upcoming meets, and check out our official Olympic Trials preview schedule for event-by-event breakdowns and predictions.
Why is the American flag backwards?
It’s hanging from the ceiling, and not flush against a wall, so it’s a picture from “behind” the flag.