Incredible plan to turn Brisbane into a global aquatic powerhouse

Australia’s leading water sports have united in a push for Brisbane to be the home to one of the greatest aquatic precincts in the world. SEE THE STUNNING DESIGNS.

Renders of the National Aquatics Centre (NAC) proposed for Brisbane. Picture: Archipelago Architects

Brisbane would become Australia’s water sports powerhouse under a bold bid to build a world leading National Aquatics Centre at Victoria Park for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The ambitious plan to perch a major $650m swimming stadium alongside the existing Centenary Pool complex is being driven by the powerful peak aquatic sports bodies Swimming Australia, Diving Australia, Water Polo Australia and Artistic Swimming Australia.

The group, backed by the Australian Olympic and Paralympic Committees, co-signed and handed the audacious submission to the state’s 100-day infrastructure review.

Centenary Pool would be upgraded and complemented by a new main and secondary stadium featuring two large indoor pools capable of hosting swimming, artistic swimming, water polo and diving.

The main indoor pool would seat 19,350 spectators during the 2032 Games before reverting to 5850 in legacy mode – while the second indoor pool would have 5000 seats before being scaled back to 2500.

The National Aquatics Centre main indoor pool would seat nearly 20,000 during the Olympics. Picture: Archipelago Architects

A smaller outdoor pool would be 6m deep and include a 27m tower capable of hosting high-dive competitions in front of 1500 people.

Combined, the proposed National Aquatics Centre would have five pools and become a national base for the four aquatics sports.

The organisations said the facility would give Brisbane a new ability to host school sports carnivals, world championships and learn-to-swim programs simultaneously.

Swimming Australia chief executive officer Rob Woodhouse said the development would give Brisbane the best aquatics centre in the world.

“When the Premier talked at Future Brisbane about needing world-class venues and called on Queenslanders to believe in themselves … that was really encouraging,” he said.

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to do here.

“To me it’s a no-brainer … it would be a great thing for Queensland, that generational play the Premier is talking about.”

Renders of the National Aquatics Centre (NAC). Picture: Archipelago Architects

Woodhouse, who won bronze in the individual medley at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, said the centre’s two indoor pools would offer year-round use where community clubs could train metres from swimmer Ariarne Titmus or water polo player Tilly Kearns.

“You can, for decades to come, be integrating community with high performance,” he said.

“That alone is an inspiration on top of tall the health and wellbeing, social and economic benefits.”

The proposed National Aquatics Centre at Victoria Park is not contingent on a new main athletics stadium being built nearby, with Woodhouse arguing the proximity to the city and public transport made it an ideal site.

“Clearly if there was a blank cheque and there was a way you could create a whole precinct and cap the Inner City Bypass that would be wonderful,” he said.

He said the aquatics precinct could link with the “innovative and technical work” being done at Queensland University of Technology and the health precinct.

Under the existing 2032 venue plan swimming would be held at a drop-in pool inside a 15,000 seat Brisbane Arena at Roma St.

Artistic swimming, diving, water polo and Paralympic aquatics would be held at a refurbished Brisbane Aquatic Centre at Chandler.

That facility, the submission noted, would be “outdated” and half-a-century old by 2032.

The venue would be built just outside the city, in Victoria Park. Picture: Archipelago Architects

Diving Australia chief executive Alex Newton described the Victoria Park National Aquatics Centre as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to grow the sport.

“This isn’t about building a facility for the Games, it’s about leveraging off the Games to build a brilliant legacy,” she said.

Ms Newton said there was a “huge lack of water space” in Brisbane with divers at Chandler often needing to make way for swimming events and significant work required to bring it up to Olympic standard.

“The dive tower itself would need to be virtually rebuilt … it has step ladders and you need stairs,” she said.

Ms Newton said upgrades to the venue meant it would be closed for an unknown length of time, displacing future Olympians and some 200 diving club members.

The 100-day review submission noted the current facility “does not meet the current or future needs of Australia’s aquatic sports”.

“There is no aquatic facility in Brisbane with the capacity to program a wide range of community and high performance activities simultaneously and in harmony,” it said.

“This impacts Brisbane’s ability to drive a greater level of community participation in aquatic sports and limits its ability to scale and enhance pathway programs from grassroots to high

performance athlete level.”

Water Polo Australia chief executive Tim Welsford revealed the Queensland Academy of Sport program was currently forced to jump between facilities.

“We base our Queensland Academy of Sport program from a tapestry of private school venues,” he said.

“We really crave a home, somewhere we can base our high-performance program from.”

It also noted many of Brisbane’s existing community pools were built between the 1950s and 1970s and would “soon reach the end of their operational lives”.

Originally published as Incredible plan to turn Brisbane into a global aquatic powerhouse