KAZAN, Russia – From the Aquatics Palace in Kazan, Russia, one can see the past, present, and future.

On one end, perched above the River Kazanka, is the Kazan Kremlin, a fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site whose foundations go back more than 1,000 years.

In the opposite direction, about 300 meters away, is the Kazan Arena, which was packed with football fans two months ago to witness six FIFA World Cup games, including the upsets that eliminated Argentina and Brazil.

And inside the Aquatics Palace itself, Kazan will host its first Swimming World Cup event this weekend to initiate a four-year run as a regular stop on the World Cup swim tour, leading up to the 25m World Championships, which it will also host in 2022.  

If Kazan already sounds familiar, perhaps it is because it also hosted the 2015 World Championships, the 2015 Master’s World Championships, and 2013 World University Games.

Given its legacy, its stronghold on the future – not to mention its stunning architecture and the effect the five-year-old building has had already on the popularity of swimming in Kazan – it’s worth a closer look.

To that end, here are six little known facts about the coolest swimming venue in Tatarstan:

1. Swimming was not actually held at the Aquatics Palace during the 2015 World Championships. Diving was. And while China swept 10 of the 13 gold medals here, the swimmers made history about 300 meters away, on an elevated pool in the middle of the football stadium where they set 12 world records three years before the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Chad le Clos of South Africa, an avid football fan who earned gold and silver in that temporary pool said Thursday in Kazan that swimming the butterfly in the middle of that pitch, “for me, was a dream come true.”

2. The Aquatics Palace is one of the longest swimming venues in the world because it contains three pools in a line: two full-sized 50-meter pools end-to-end, followed by a 33-meter diving pool.  Each pool has its own entrance and separate locker rooms, but on the pool deck there are no barriers so it is possible to walk the 187-meter length of the building uninterrupted.

3. The exterior was designed to look like a giant blue waving rolling toward the river, which also explains why the pools were set end to end, rather than in a block formation.

4. The Aquatics Palace is highly versatile. Not only does it have a movable pool floor to accommodate younger swimmers, but during the 2013 World University Games – for which it was originally built – organizers often changed the configuration of the pools for artistic swimming and swimming multiple times a day, which involved dismantling the photo finish and transforming the deck into a starting podium for artistic swimming.  

5. It is an excellent (and rare) indoor training venue for high divers.  In high diving, men and women compete from 27-meter and 20-meter platforms, respectively.  But given the high impact of landing, divers usually train a bit lower and the Aquatics Palace has a 23m platform in the ceiling that can be reached by walking on a metal path among the lighting beams. Also, the venue’s fixed platforms at 3m, 5m, and 10m, allows high divers to progress all in one place. Otherwise, “you have to find a cliff by the sea or prepare a platform somewhere,” said Ranko Tepavcevic, the deputy director general at the Kazan directorate for sports. “Here, you have the full facility.”

6. Currently, about 3,000 children a day use the Aquatics Palace, whether for swimming, artistic swimming, or diving. In addition, the city of Kazan has another seven or eight pools. The republic of Tatarstan (of which Kazan is the capital) has more than 200, so every municipality has a pool. “The region is investing a lot in aquatics,” Tepavcevic said. "It helps a lot to promote aquatics. Now, every year, there are FINA events here in diving, swimming, artistic swimming as well as national championships.

“Having such a venue is a milestone not only for the city but for the country. You can not only organize events here, but you can serve thousands of people on a daily basis,” he said.


Photo © Aimee Berg. The Kazan Arena football stadium and 2015 World Championship swimming venue lurks just behind the Kazan Aquatics Palace


Photo © Aimee Berg. At the other end of the Aquatics Palace lies the Kazan Kremlin UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 


The Kazan Aquatics Palace is one of the longest swimming venues in the world. It houses two 50m swimming pools and a 33m diving pool end-to-end-to-end.