“It’s the Olympic dream that continues”: the Olympic swimming pool leaves Paris La Défense Arena and moves to Sevran

The sound of screwdrivers has replaced the applause of the spectators. 80 workers are taking turns day and night at Paris La Défense Arena where the two Olympic pools used for warm-ups and competitions are being reduced to pieces. The pool where Léon Marchand performed at the Olympic Games this summer is being dismantled and the smell of chlorine has completely disappeared.

The two pools, which held a total of 5 million litres of water, were emptied after a complex operation. “It’s no small feat. It took us 3 days to empty everything. We widened the pipes of the Paris La Défense Arena, we reprocessed the water before reinjecting it into the traditional circuit. We offer happiness to people and then we dismantle it,” summarizes David Navizet, the director of this Olympic site.

Named after Léon Marchand

The 50-metre, 2.15-metre deep competition pool will be rebuilt next year, not in Toulouse, Léon Marchand’s hometown, but in Sevran, in Seine-Saint-Denis. A department where the lack of swimming pools is glaring. “It’s an incredible emotion. It’s the Olympic dream that continues. We’re already calling it the Léon Marchand swimming pool and I can confirm that it will be named after this great champion,” Stéphane Gatignon, the town’s mayor, told Europe 1.

On the Paris La Défense Arena side, the race against time is far from over. The temporary stand, which hosted the press, also needs to be dismantled, which is 300 tons of scaffolding. The venue will resume its usual activities – rugby matches and concerts – by the end of October.