The 2023 Water Cube Youth Swimming Open kicked off at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing on May 27. The competition saw the participation of 1,867 young athletes aged 7-18 from 77 schools and swimming clubs across the country.
The two-day competition is the first large-scale water sports event held for teenagers by the dual-Olympic venue since the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, aiming to boost interest in swimming among the younger generation and provide an opportunity for them to connect with each other.
Ru Jiang, general manager of the swimming subsidiary of the National Aquatics Center, noted that the competition marked the restart of water sports activities in the venue."Through the competition, we hope to contribute our part to the popularization of swimming in Beijing and create a platform for young athletes to interact," Ru said.
To ensure the athletes are in optimal condition for the competition, the venue opened its warm-up pool from May 22 to 26 for training purposes. Many of the venue's Summer Olympic-level facilities were also utilized during the competition. Among these, a precise electronic timing and scoring system was used to record swimming results accurately. These results were uploaded to a cloud platform.
In addition to an Olympic-level competition experience, the venue also utilized its supporting facilities to offer high-quality dining, shopping, and touring services for young athletes and their families.
The competition is the first event of the venue's youth swimming series this year. The second part, the Water Cube Youth Short Course Swimming Invitational Tournament, is scheduled for September.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the one-year anniversary of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. In addition to the ongoing swimming open, a figure skating test is also taking place at the venue's Ice Sports Center. These events demonstrate the latest efforts of the venue in pursuing sustainable development.
Looking ahead, the National Aquatics Center will continue making the most of its Olympic legacy and provide safer and better water and ice sports services to the public in a bid to honor its commitment to delivering tangible benefits to the people as a dual-Olympic venue.
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