The Olympic Games are coming up, and the topic of conversation everywhere is: how much does it cost to send a competitor to the games, and what items can one expect to see during these games? Well, the answer to the first question is fairly expensive. It costs around US$71,000 to send a competitor to the games, and that’s not including the clothing or travel expenses. The second question is: what might you see during these games? Well, the venues might not be the most luxurious I’ve ever seen, but you will see a lot of swimming. The pool is going to be the centrepiece of these games, and it seems that every country is aiming to outdo each other with increasingly extravagant pools.
One of the swimming pools that has really caught the imagination of the public is that of the Netherlands. The price of a ticket to see the Dutch in action amounts to around €40, and so it’s not a particularly expensive outing. The pool is outdoors, and it was built for the 1964 games. Since then it’s been updated and renovated a few times, and it is one of the focal points of the Amsterdam city centre.
Another favourite amongst the general public is the Australian pool. It too is a popular tourist spot, with a glass-enclosed roof providing panoramic views of the city. It was built for the 2000 Olympics, and the cost of a ticket there is also around €40. This, however, is an indoor pool, and it features a huge zero-edge lap pool. The size of the pool combined with the admission price makes this venue popular with families.
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The Biggest Pool
The record for the biggest publicly accessible swimming pool belongs to none other than King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Besides being one of the largest countries in the world, Saudi Arabia is also one of the wealthiest. It thus ought to have one of the largest pools. This is what the king was thinking, too, as this pool was built to mark the 20th anniversary of his ascension to the throne. It is an Olympic-sized pool with a water depth of around 12 metres. This makes it easier for the children to jump in, have a swim and get out. It is equipped with two springboards, a diving stage and a floating island. The cost to enter the pool is free, but parking is costly. Children under 12 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. The pool is open from 10 am to 10 pm, and it’s located in the Jeddah Sports City. The organisers claim that this pool is the largest one in the world. With a volume of 8.6 million litres, it certainly is a large pool!
Record-breaking Costs
The previous record for the most expensive pool was also the King Fahd pool, breaking the previous record by a huge margin. This pool was not built for leisure, but rather for sports training. The German arm of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) paid around €22,000 for the privilege of being the recipient of this massive water storage facility. The money was donated to fight climate change. The fund is run by former professional pool swimmer Markus Schipper and WWF Germany CEO Wolfgang Weber. This is a public pool, and the cost to enter is €20, or €10 for students and children. The facility also hosts aquarobics classes, and it has a very well-stocked library. It’s a great place for children to learn while having fun in the water. This is one of the city’s biggest attractions.
Venues For All Levels
Although the majority of the upcoming competition will take place in the conventional manner in the pools, there is also a large contingent of the athletes competing in trampoline-style. These events are more common in Europe, and they were featured at the last Olympics in Rio. It’s a great way for the athletes to work out during the off-season, and it’s a popular spectacle for the general public. The venue for the trampoline events at the Tokyo games will be the Nagai Stadium. The first event is going to be a men’s qualification round, and it will be followed by the women’s competition. The United States is sending a team of 12 trampolinists and 12 tumblers to the games. The cost to enter the stadium for these events is around US$100.
Penny-Passes And Fun
These are the types of venues that one expects to see during the games. They are certainly colourful, and they are all the more interesting for being located in a major city. These are the types of pools that one might see whilst on holiday in Europe, and they would make for some great photos. Whether the cost is worth it is another matter, as these types of pools are usually found in resorts and thus are not usually crowded. The water is usually fairly clean, and you are not going to find the hordes of people that are common at major venues. As a visitor, you might get wet, but you will not necessarily drown. This is a definite plus. These are all venues that kids will enjoy, and adults will enjoy the spectacle.
One of the main problems with these types of pools is that they attract only the most affluent of people. If you are looking for a more traditional view of the Olympics, you might end up at a different type of pool. The only way to truly compare the relative cost of these two sorts of pools is by looking at the price of a single ticket. A child’s ticket to one of the smaller, more traditional pools is going to set you back around £6. An adult ticket to one of the larger, more extravagant venues is going to cost you around £16. If you are going to be in London during the Olympics, it might be worth considering which pool you are more likely to get into. The smaller, more traditional venues are likely to be found in the cheaper parts of town, whilst the larger venues are more likely to be found in the more fashionable areas.