Aquatic Center Behind the Scenes

I’m sure by now everyone has watched the swimming events on tv and have saw the main Competition pool. We will now take you on a tour of the aquatic center complex and where the real magic happens. 

First stop is the mailbox and entry hall. Each coach has box where they put all of heat sheets, start lists, results, and any other information that we need to know. It’s important to keep on eye on the box to make sure your not missing something important.

Next we have the training pool. This pool is a basic set up to be used by athletes not competing during the current meet session.  A downside is that we have to walk outside to get there.

The warm up pool is where the real magic happens. It’s in this pool that athletes get their last bit of coaching and warm up till there coaches walk them to the check in / ready room. There are cold tubs, athletic training beds and media cameras all over the deck. This is probably one of my favorite place to be. Also as coaches spend a majority of the meet in this pool there are TV’s that allow us to see what going on in the main pool. Sad to say but yes I watched most of the meet on TV just like everyone else. 

At the 20 min to an athletes race the coach will walk the athlete down the hallway to the ready room. This is the coaches and athletes last time to talk. It gets pretty loud as the athletes enter the ready room and coaches are cheering. 

The coaches will then walk under the stands past the media booths and meeting rooms to the door that takes them onto the competition pool deck behind the coaches pit. 

The coaches pit are probably the worst seats in the house. You don’t get a good view of the pool and end up watching a large portion of the race on the Jumbotron. 

Lastly, with our trip coming to a close soon I must give a shootout to our Japanese Volunteers Gaku. He has gone above and beyond to make sure myself and the athletes are taken care of. He has gone everywhere we have and when we are resting he is still working hard to take care of us. Thank you Gaku!