The Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Centre is host to myriad prestigious Japanese competitive swimming and water polo competitions, including the annual Japanese Swimming Championships and Japan Open Swim. The venue is set to host the water polo events at the 2020 Olympics, but the facility may have a unique transition in its post-Games future.
Per Kyodo News, there are tentative plans to convert the Tatsumi International Swimming Centre into a public ice rink after the next edition of the Summer Games. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has devised possible plans for the venue post-Olympics, which includes the ice rink option, representing Tokyo’s only public year-round facility of its type, as well as the potential for a massive gym. The ice rink option would also entail hosting ice hockey and curling.
During the Olympics and Paralympics, the competitive pool swimming, diving and artistic swimming events will be held at the newly constructed Olympic Aquatics Centre, whose building process remains on track. Even this new structure serves as a departure from the original vision as the venue was moved and scaled-down in size from a 20,000-seat arena to a 15,000-seat arena, a move that is slated to save Tokyo 2020’s organizers ¥19.3 billion ($163 million).
