A grand opening of the Albatross Swimming Pool took place on September 1 in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny, Republic of Tatarstan. The swimming pool where the world’s strongest swimmers and synchro swimmers had competed last summer during the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan, was relocated to Naberezhnye Chelny from its original site at the Kazan Arena Stadium.
The event was attended by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Tatarstan’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport Vladimir Leonov, Mayor of Naberezhnye Chelny Nail Magdeev, Merited Coach of Russia in Synchronised Swimming and head coach of the Tatarstan synchro swimming team Ninel Kozhedub.
“Quite a few venues are opened today in Naberezhnye Chelny: an embankment, a school and a swimming pool. All of this is for the benefit of people living in this city. Many gold medal were won by Russia in this swimming pool. I hope that we will carry on this good tradition here as well,” the President said.
Every year Kazan plays host to a number of high-profile international sporting events. And the matter of legacy that will be left after staging these events is treated as high priority already during the preparation of bid campaigns.
Staging of major sporting events and handling of accompanying tasks, including further use of venues, temporary facilities and sports equipment, will encourage citizens of Kazan and Republic of Tatarstan to start doing sports on a regular basis and to adopt healthy lifestyles. Thanks to the Tatarstan President’s decision, the swimming pools of three venues where competitions of the 2015 FINA World Championships had been hosted were not simply taken down but were left for Tatarstan and handed over to regions of the republic.
For instance, another swimming pool of the Kazan Arena Stadium, which had been used during last summer’s aquatics tournament, was relocated to the Lyaysan Indoor Swimming Pool that was opened in the Akleevsky Municipal Region of the Republic of Tatarstan on August 25.
As for the pool used for the 2015 FINA World Championships water polo tournament, it was handed over to Kazan School of the Olympic Reserve. The opening of the swimming pool is scheduled for September 2016.