Four years after Brisbane was announced as the host city of the 2032 Games, the State Government finally unveiled the venues.
Amongst a new Brisbane stadium, Queensland Tennis Centre and upgrade to the RNA Showgrounds, is a new National Aquatic Centre.
Centenary Pool in Spring Hill will be redeveloped to become a new national hub for Australia’s four peak aquatic sports.
With a capacity of 25,000 spectators during the Games, and 8,000 after, Brisbane will be home to a venue capable of attracting major aquatic events and an environment for daily high-performance training alongside community access.
Swimming Australia and the wider water sports community has welcomed the announcement with resounding praise.
Swimming Australia CEO, Rob Woodhouse said, “Today we celebrate the most significant investment ever in aquatic sports in Australia,”
The Water Polo Australia CEO joined in sharing his praise saying, “Australia’s first ever national high-performance hub for all aquatic sports…will provide the unique opportunity where we won’t be in competition with the community needs but rather have enough pool space for everyone to enjoy and hopefully inspire more people to get active,”.
The announcement of a National Aquatics Centre was met with cheers from the KDPR office with KDPR Director, Kristin Devitt previously taking on a project as Strategic Communications Advisor for Swimming Australia.
A highlight of Kristin’s role was delivering a 2032 Games legacy impact strategy, including a consultation process with swimming’s diverse stakeholders, considering safety in the water, high performance and social impacts. Initiatives included Deadly Little Dolphins promoting learn to swim in First Nations communities, participation growth and access to swimming spots.
The strategy also called on the State Government to invest in legacy infrastructure for swimming as Australia’s most successful Olympic and Paralympic sport and the highest participation sport in the country, with nearly six million participants.
To ensure the call to action was impactful, KDPR led a highly successful national media campaign, with runs appearing on ABC (TV, radio and digital), The Today Show, Channel 7 News and even The Fiji Times.
Now that venues have been announced, excitement for the 2032 Games is brewing and we are eager to see our River City continue to grow in the lead up to the Games.