Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Tom Tate wants swimming on Gold Coast

Just when all seems lost, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate believes his city can do a Steven Bradbury and snatch Brisbane’s Games glory.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has his eye on Olympic swimming.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate is in talks with world swimming’s governing body to host a major international meet on the Glitter Strip, to mount an irresistible case to take centre stage at the Brisbane Olympics.

While swimming at the 2032 Olympics has been earmarked for a temporary pool inside the planned Brisbane Arena, Mr Tate believes Games organisers could save hundreds of millions of dollars by using the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre – which has already hosted the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Mr Tate has met with World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam to outline a bid to host the 2028 World Championships (25m), commonly known as the world short course championships, in what would serve as an ideal test event for the 2032 Olympics.

Mr Tate said he believed Brisbane was still favourite to host the swimming – one of the most popular aspects of any Olympics – but the Gold Coast could “do a Steven Bradbury” and swoop in for Games glory.

Bradbury entered Australian sporting folklore as the last man standing in the final of the 1000m speed skating at the 2002 Winter Games, and Mr Tate said the Gold Coast could take a leaf from his playbook to claim one of the Olympics’ crown jewels.

“They (Games organisers) will try to build there (Brisbane) and they’ll find they won’t finish in time, and we’ll do the Steven Bradbury and have it here,” he said.

“But wouldn’t it be easier to just for certainty and confidence to just say we will have it here from the get go?

“So if they’re serious about value for money as “the new norm”, then they should pick swimming here on the Gold Coast.

Like Steven Bradbury, Tom Tate hopes to leaves others in his wake.

“Because we’re going to (try to host) the world championship short course (and) if it’s good enough for world championships here, it will be good enough for the Olympics.”

Gold Coast City Council has already undertaken design work on adding a roof to the city’s aquatic centre, with initial forecasts estimating a cost of $100-150m.

The council is prepared to split the bill 50/50 with the state government.

Mr Tate, himself a qualified engineer, said the money required to ensure Brisbane Arena’s foundations could support the vast weight of two 50m swimming pools was not a good legacy, compared to a much smaller cost to provide a permanent roof and expanded seating at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.

He said the Gold Coast precinct could also host all aquatic events, including diving and water polo, while those sports would be held at another venue if Brisbane Arena is chosen as the main swimming location.

Under Mr Tate’s proposal, the city’s aquatic centre would be covered by a permanent sail-type structure similar to the material used across the Broadwater at Marina Mirage.

Extra permanent seating would be installed to increase capacity by several thousand, with the provision of extra temporary grandstands and even temporary walls which could be pulled down after the Games.

“With our great climate, after the Games we will still want the facility to be open air so we can remove the sides, but an ongoing legacy will be to leave the roof there because it’s sun safe,” he said.

The Gold Coast Aquatic Centre is undergoing improvements.

The 2014 Pan Pacs were famously drenched by a rare winter monsoon, but Mr Tate said competitors including swimming legend Michael Phelps were extremely impressed with the Gold Coast facility.

“I remember handing him a silver medal and I said, “Michael mate, sorry it’s raining like this, but what do you think at the pool?”

“And he goes, “I’m going to get wet anyway so it’s a great pool, right?”

“So I thought, OK, the most famous male swimmer in the world, even of all time, he’s happy with our pool.”

Mr Tate has delivered his pitch to the committee tasked with a 100-day review of Olympic Games venues and infrastructure, which will finalise their report on March 8 ahead of a public announcement on March 25.

The 2028 world swimming championships (25m) will be held the same year as the LA Olympics, but the event has typically been held in December, several months after the Games, to ensure the world’s elite stars are able to compete.

Even before emerging as a left field option for Olympic swimming, Brisbane Arena has long been earmarked as a 17,000-seat indoor stadium with the potential to host sports events as well as superstar music acts.

If Games organisers opted against its use for Olympic swimming, Brisbane Arena could likely host marquee matches of the basketball, volleyball or handball competitions, and would not require such an expensive investment on the venue’s foundations if it did not have to bear the weight of 5000 tonnes of water.

A source close to World Aquatics confirmed the organisation was keen to bring a major meet Down Under ahead of the Brisbane Olympics, with several other international championship events already committed to other nations in the countdown to 2032.

Originally published as Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Tom Tate wants swimming on Gold Coast