London Pools Campaign: olympic news

Swimming venue gets OK for London Games - USATODAY.com

webteam — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:48:03 GMT

"Construction of the aquatics venue for the 2012 London Olympics will begin this summer after city officials approved the plan. The 17,500-capacity center will host swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, the water polo finals and the swimming portion of the modern pentathlon.

The Olympic Delivery Authority said Wednesday that construction on the aquatics venue would begin before the Beijing Games in August and will be completed in 2011."

(Via Swimming venue gets OK for London Games - USATODAY.com: .)

Banking on Boris to bring Olympic sanity - Yorkshire Post

webteam — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:53:13 GMT

"THERE are few things which attract less interest hereabouts than the politics of London in general and the doings of the mayor of the city in particular but the election of Boris Johnson to succeed Ken Livingstone may yet prove a turning point in the build-up to the biggest sporting event our capital has ever seen. Livingstone knew and cared as much about sport as most of us do about the works of Karl Marx but he was an astute enough politician to become engaged in the Olympic process simply because he knew he could use some of the money being invested to help him improve the living standards of those in the east of his constituency who would reward him with their support."

(Via Bill Bridge: Banking on Boris to bring Olympic sanity - Yorkshire Post: .)

2012 chiefs splashing out £40m on pool consultants

webteam — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 06:49:10 GMT

Smug consultants zip around the country rubber-stamping 25m and puddle solutions for councils. They are happy filling in deep-ends, creating pools with a hydraulic floors at one end and a shallow end at the other (!?). They looking upon local campaigners with undisguised scorn yet earning a pretty good living with no comeback or consequences. If true the fiasco in Stratford is the Klondike of all 'covered holes in the ground full of water' consultancies.

"Consultants' fees for the project to build the Olympic aquatics centre could hit £40million, it has emerged.

The cost of employing outside engineers, architects and surveyors has mounted following changes to the venue's complex design.

Olympic chiefs are demanding venues for the 2012 Games are 'green'. This has proved a challenge for the aquatics centre because such pools are noted for high heating bills.

Rising professional fees are thought to be one of the main factors contributing to the centre's budget, which has tripled to £214million, as revealed by the Evening Standard last week."

(Via 2012 chiefs splashing out £40m on pool consultants | Evening Standard: .)

where are all the coaches that will take us to the sunlit uplands?

webteam — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:17:14 GMT

"The London 2012 Olympic legacy is under threat due to a coaching shortage, according to a new report.

The report, released by Sportnation – an independent sports think-tank – based on research carried out by Loughborough University, said that even on conservative estimates, the UK could face a shortfall of up to a quarter of a million full-time and part-time paid professional sports coaches.

The study, called Are we missing the coach for 2012?, found that 69 per cent of the 1.2 to 1.5 million sports coaches in the UK are unpaid volunteers and that in performance athletics, there are as few as 12 full-time salaried coaches in the UK.

It calls for between 160,000 and 233,500 additional paid, professional coaching positions by 2016, which is more ambitious than the proposed 42,000 new positions to be created in the same period under Sportscoach UK’s UK Coaching Framework.

Steve Cram, chair of the Sportnation – which is supported by the Lucozade Sports Science Academy --– and former world champion athlete, said: ‘The report highlights that unless we can break the culture of ‘gentleman amateurism’ in UK sport, we will struggle to become best in the world.

‘As long as we continue to rely on an army of grass-roots volunteers, with no clear career progression for home grown coaches, we will tend to look to superannuated foreign coaches to fill the top jobs in UK sport. If we don’t act now to stem the endemic culture of volunteerism in UK sport, we may have already missed the coach for sporting success at London 2012.’ Details: www.thelssa.co.uk/lssa/sportnation/ "

(Via Leisure Opportunities - daily jobs, news, training and property: .)

Olympic Games 2012: Pay | Olympics | Written Answers

webteam — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:35:54 GMT

"The following table shows the 2007-08 salaries of the 10 highest paid staff working directly on the preparations for the 2012 Olympics in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and paid from the public purse. It does not include staff employed by the ODA's Delivery Partner, and the ODA's contractors.
Position/organisation ^{( 1)} Salary (£)
Chief Executive, ODA 372,600
Director of Construction, ODA 258,750
Director of Finance and Corporate Services, ODA 253,624
Director General, Government Olympic Executive 220,000
Director of Design and Regeneration, ODA 207,000
Director of Transport, ODA 207,000
Director of Property, ODA 207,000
Director of Infrastructure and Utilities, ODA 207,000
Director of Build and Finance, Government Olympic Executive 180,000
Director of Communications, ODA 175,950
⁽¹⁾ The figures are for basic salary only, and do not include for any performance related bonuses, taxable benefits and pension contributions. These additional benefits will be calculated at the financial year-end and detailed in the annual reports and accounts of the Department and the ODA which are laid before the House."

(Via Tessa Jowell's Recent Appearances (TheyWorkForYou.com) Olympic Games 2012: Pay | Olympics | Written Answers: .)

"London Olympic chiefs defended the salaries of their top executives yesterday after it emerged some were earning up to £100,000 more than first thought."

(Via Telegraph Sport Olympic Delivery Authority defend pay: .)

Olympic pool costs set to triple

webteam — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:58:34 GMT

"The London 2012 Olympics aquatics centre is likely to cost nearly three times as much as the £75m originally estimated, BBC London has learned.

A scaled-down version of the original wave-shaped building, which will be the gateway to the Olympic park in east London, could cost £215m.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell sent the architect "back to the drawing board" in 2006 because of spiralling costs.

The venue is now due for completion in 2011, two years later than planned."

(Via BBC NEWS | England | London | Olympic pool costs set to triple: .)

and ...

Building Design has a lot to say about the all glass centre in a culturally mixed community and how the panicky politicians worried about headlines are trying to do world class architecture on a shoestring to keep the daily papers happy.

(Via Bellyflop: Zaha Hadid's reworked Aquatic Centre disappoints - images - Building Design: .)

Consultants bag olympic millions as money flows (pooling resources)

webteam — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 17:03:52 GMT

The headline of this article tells you all you need to know about its contents: lack of accountability, lack of transparency, and huge sums of money quietly disappearing into New Labour's Grand Canyon of Consultants.

£60 million would have:-

saved the North West Kent College Pool (used by 30 different groups),

saved Hendy Lido,

restored and refurbished Broomhill Pool,

built a new indoor pool at Hadleigh,

provided a generous donation towards the running expenses of the Swansea Sharks,

saved Sherwood Hall in Derbyshire (Matlock's only leisure centre)

speeded up the restoration of Wood Green Lido in Banbury and perhaps made the pool available for more than eight weeks to swimmers

saved the Gayton Community Junior School Pool etc etc

"According to a parliamentary written answer given by Jowell this week, the Olympic Delivery Authority, the body responsible for delivering the venues and facilities for the event, spent £50.49 million in 2006-2007 and between April and July this year spent a further £10.7 million in 2007-2008."

(Via poolingresources at Yahoo! Groups Consultants bag £60m from London Olympics - Telegraph: .)

"Praise the Lord for 'difficult' people: Colin Moynihan challenges the lack of structure and planning surrounding the Olympics budget: 'I have spent more time"

(Via poolingresources at Yahoo! Groups Lord Moynihan's broadside at 2012 finances - Telegraph: .)

"Although most of this article is about transport, the last four paragraphs focus on the raids being made on the Heritage Lottery Fund: £160 million has"

(Via poolingresources at Yahoo! Groups Heritage Lottery Fund could lose £255 m to Olympics: .)

No more design cuts to Zaha's Aquatic Centre says ODA chief

webteam — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:53:59 GMT

"The chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has pledged not to scale back designs on Zaha Hadid’s Aquatic Centre.

(Via No more design cuts to Zaha's Aquatic Centre says ODA chief)

Olympics will leave lasting legacy - Telegraph

webteam — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:52:35 GMT

"But we are not just building what we can use in 2012 and beyond – in many cases, we are building new sporting facilities that are desperately needed now. Take the aquatics centre – the world-class sporting and diving facility we are building in the Olympic Park, which will be used by both elite swimmers and local leisure swimmers in London long after the final race has been swum.

London currently only has one indoor 50-metre swimming pool – and it is not in an easily accessibly central location, it is out at Crystal Palace. The pool is currently closed, following an asbestos scare. London's swimmers and divers now have no pool of Olympic size or standard to train in. This week, we heard about the plight of Jessica Williams, a 13-year-old diver from Erith who has been forced to travel to Sheffield and use the Ponds Forge complex because she has nowhere else to go to train.

This is not acceptable, if we are truly to be a world-class sporting nation. London – a city of 7.5 million people, and a city passionate about sport – deserves better. The facilities we are designing and building for London 2012 and beyond will make sure this situation does not happen again."

(Via Olympics will leave lasting legacy - Telegraph: .)

No contest in Olympic pool tender

webteam — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:31:46 GMT

"Two of the three companies in the running to build the 2012 Olympics aquatics centre have withdrawn from the tendering process."

(Via BBC Sport | Other Sport | UK Edition No contest in Olympic pool tender: .)

9th FINA World Swimming Championship tickets go on sale

webteam — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:06:49 GMT

"“Don’t miss out!” is the message from the organisers of the FINA World Swimming Championships as the tickets go on sale tomorrow. (1st September) With every previous major swimming event in the UK being a sell out, tickets are due to sell very fast for this once in a lifetime opportunity to see world class swimming in a specially built pool in the MEN Arena! The 9-13th April 2008 will be first time a World Championships has been held in the UK and it is Britain’s biggest swimming event since the sell out 2002 Commonwealth Games. 650 elite swimmers from 120 countries will be in Manchester for the 5 day event which will be the only chance to see a world class event before the Olympics in Beijing."

(Via Fina Swimming World Championships 2008 | NEWS 9th FINA World Swimming Championship tickets go on sale: .)

London 2012: Jowell retains Olympic job

webteam — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 04:07:42 GMT

"London 2012: Despite losing her job as culture secretary, Tessa Jowell will stay on as the government's Olympic boss."

(Via Guardian Unlimited Sport London 2012: Jowell retains Olympic job: .)

Sports Legacy Manager

webteam — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 05:00:48 GMT

"Salary: c £46,000 pa + benefits, Location: London, Company: London Development Agency"

(Via Leisure Opportunities Jobs Sports Legacy Manager: .)

Small firm strikes Olympic gold

webteam — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 06:06:42 GMT

"A company with just six employees has struck gold and won part of an £180m contract to build the aquatics centre for London's 2012 Olympics.

Total CDM Solutions of Cardigan will act as health and safety consultants during its design and construction."

(Via BBC NEWS | Wales | Mid Wales | Small firm strikes Olympic gold: .)

Covers come off smaller Olympic swimming pool

webteam — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:28:44 GMT

In articles elsewhere in the Telegraph journalists note how seldom the word 'sport' is being used when the London Olympics are discussed.

Efforts are being made to keep the budget of the Olympic swimming pool to £75,000,000, a mere £25,000,000 more than Hackney has spent to date on Clissold Leisure Centre.

"In a bid to calm concerns over spiralling costs, London 2012 organisers yesterday unveiled plans for a scaled-down Olympic aquatic centre."

(Via Telegraph Sport Covers come off smaller Olympic swimming pool: .)

The roof has been re-designed 60% smaller by the architect, who is not known for her willingness to accept compromises easily, and it will no longer cover the water polo tanks. There is a story on the BBC Web site as well which you can read HERE

Amateur Swimming Association chief executive David Sparkes is unconcerned that plans for the London Olympics 2012 aquatic centre have been rejected for going two times over budget - listen here.

Londonist has a slightlly different take on things which can be seen here

Olympic pool plan may be a £16m bellyflop

Rob Spender — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 00:54:30 GMT

The Barking and Dagenham Post:

POOR pool plans landed the council in the deep end after proposals left Olympic hopefuls unimpressed.

A new Dagenham swimming pool, proposed for completion in 2010, will cost a whopping £16 million, but would still fall way short of Olympic standards.

The pool would be smaller than the recently shut 33metre Althorne Way swimming facility.

Part of the council's leisure regeneration aim, is to improve facilities to meet Olympic standards, but Olympic swimmers must train and compete in 50m pools - double what the council have proposed.

"Australians not waving but drowning as Brits turn it on"

webteam — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:49:59 GMT

So after our elite athlete's success at the Commonwealth Games can we have facilities aplenty for people of all abilities?

"Are you watching, Jeff Thomson, Gough Whitlam, Nicole Kidman, Errol Flynn, Dame Joan Sutherland, Dame Edna Everage, Rupert Murdoch, Sir Donald Bradman - your boys are taking a hell of a beating!"
"Put the best of England and Scotland together and you have a GB relay squad that will challenge seriously for gold in the World Championships and Olympics," said former Olympic breaststroke champion Adrian Moorhouse. "We saw eight international-class British 200m freestylers, in the same race. Something special is beginning to happen.

"This has to be a start, not an end. I am delighted for Bill Sweetenham. Getting British swimming sorted out has been like turning the QE2.

"You have got to stop all the bad practices and come to a complete halt before you can set off again in the right direction. He has had a rough time but he has put a superb programme in place, recruited and re-educated an excellent team of top coaches and just below the level we now see there are at least a score of excellent young swimmers emerging.

"He is a hard taskmaster, but we are thanking him now."

(Via Telegraph Sport Australians not waving but drowning as Brits turn it on: .)

In fairness the Aussie Girls are superb and one Australian man has won two gold medals which this article has not acknowledged. For this bravura to be a true 'new dawn' leading to broad sunlit uplands it has to be built upon and sustained with this generation pulling on the next to greater success. What better way to encourage our young people to get into the pool for fun or sport.

Penny-pinching means Aquatic Center for 2012 will be 'Stratford Baths'

webteam — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 17:57:31 GMT

At LPC we are now scared when grand architecture meets leisure facilities and the visuals we have seen for the new Stratford Baths look like a backstroker's nightmare (just like every other swimming pool ceiling really) but if you are hosting the Olympics you have to put on good show and the ASA is right to speak out. The project is changing From WOW! factor to HOW? factor. The Cube in Beijing is reputed to have cost over $200,000,000.

If London is not going to get a building worthy of global competition and of the biggest sports show on earth then we may as well have a temporary tank in Wembley and spend the money saved on a host of pools all over the city.

"LONDON, December 13. AS part of London’s bid to land the 2012 Olympic Games, a state-of-the-art aquatic center was part of the proposal. Now, it seems that the original plans may not be followed, a fact that is not sitting well with the Amateur Swimming Association of Great Britain. The organization (sic) has stated that the aquatic center must fall in line with what was scheduled.

Some of the revision plans that have surfaced show that crowds for the aquatic competitions in 2012 could be cut in half. However, ASA Chief Executive David Sparkes has urged organizers to rethink their decision. In his appeal, he stressed the importance of constructing a top-flight facility, not one that cuts corners due to increased building costs associated with the original blueprints. The initial plans called for a 20,000-seat facility.

"It is the view of the ASA that specification for the pool in Games and Legacy mode is absolutely non-negotiable," explained Sparkes. "The pool must deliver for the sport in Games mode and for the people of London as a Legacy as outlined by the ASA in its submission to organizers and, while the budget might be tight and challenging, it is totally realistic.

"It is now for the architects and engineers to come back with a realistic solution maintaining the integrity of the facility. This facility was a key part of securing the Games for London and the Vision sold to the IOC must be delivered." "

(Via Swimming World Magazine Plans Appear to be Changing with Aquatic Center for 2012 Olympics: .)

Technorati Tags: t

Stratford Olympics pool busts budget

webteam — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 05:29:57 GMT

'Culture minister Tessa Jowell has sent plans for London’s 2012 Olympic Aquatics Centre back to the drawing board after architect Zaha Hadid’s designs came in at almost double the £75 million budget'

(Via Construction NewsOlympic pool busts budget - subscription only: .)

'I have had to send the designers of the Olympic aquatics centre back to the drawing board because a change in the specification had almost doubled costs, which is simply unacceptable,' she said. 'In our bid we pledged that the centre would cost £75m and that is precisely what it will do, with appropriate allowance for inflation. I cannot give anyone a complete assurance that costs for the 2012 Games will not rise. But what I will do is be absolutely ruthless in ensuring that any potential overspend, no matter how small, is caught early and driven back down wherever possible.'

(Via The GuardianJowell sends back plans for too costly 2012 aquatic centre The Guardian: .)

Thanks to not the Clissold Leisure Centre website for this info.

London 2012: Stadium will need new pool for a very modern pentathlon

webteam — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 17:03:23 GMT

"Modern pentathlon, Britain's most successful sport in the last two Olympics, plans to revolutionise itself for when it appears at the London games in 2012.
The five-discipline event is hoping it can be staged in the main 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in Stratford with a temporary 25 metres swimming pool in the middle of the arena."Duncan Mackay, Saturday July 9, 2005, The Guardian

(Via Guardian Unlimited Sport | Special reports | London 2012: Stadium will need new pool for a very modern pentathlon: .)

Sparkes flying at news from Singapore

webteam — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 01:47:24 GMT

"British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes has spoken of his delight at London’s successful bid to stage the 2012 Olympic Games.

Speaking at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, where members voted to award the Olympic Games to London, Sparkes paid tribute to the efforts of the London 2012 team in securing the greatest show on earth.

‘This will provide tremendous impetus for swimming in Great Britain,’ explained Sparkes who is in Singapore as part of the 2012 delegation. ‘The work on constructing the Olympic pool in Stratford will start immediately and good progress has already been made on the design which is absolutely stunning and world class.’

The announcement of a London victory provides a real boost to British Swimming which has been implementing plans to ensure Britain’s swimmers, divers, water polo players and synchronised swimmers are ready to challenge for medals come 2012.

‘For a long time our plans have been based around the success of winning the Olympic Games for London and we shall be pulling out all of the stops to make sure we’re ranked in the top three swimming nations in the world.’"

(Via Western Counties ASA Sparkes flying at news from Singapore: .)

Zaha Hadid chosen to design first Olympic venue

webteam — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:10:09 GMT

It's announced, will be open in 2008 and, on paper, it's beautiful! While this may only be the visual to win the competition to design the £70million aquatic centre it's an exciting start.
Zaha Hadid, winner of last year’s most coveted architectural prize, will design London’s Olympic Aquatics Centre, it was announced today.

The winning design for the Aquatics Centre, which will form part of London’s Olympic Park for a 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, has a spectacular, sinuous S-shaped roof inspired by the flow of water, that is certain to make it a London landmark.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: ‘A London Olympic Games in 2012 would be the greatest sporting spectacle the world has ever seen - as well as transforming the Lower Lea Valley and creating a lasting legacy of cutting edge sporting venues for the capital and the nation. Zaha Hadid's exceptional winning design gives a taste of just what we can offer and makes London's bid to host the Games even more compelling.’
click for press release

DESIGNERS SOUGHT FOR LONDON POOL...

webteam — Sun, 06 Jun 2004 05:43:24 GMT

03 Jun 2004
The London Development Agency has launched a competition to design the Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics bid.

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of London 2012 - the company bidding to bring the Games to London - said: 'The Aquatics Centre is a key part of our plans and the innovative design will provide a state-of-the-art Olympic venue and a world class training facility for our elite swimmers. It will also serve as a lasting legacy for the local communities and enable people of all ages and abilities to achieve new levels of health and fitness. This is what bringing the Olympic and Paralympic Games to London is all about.

more -->
[British Swimming News]

there is also news at 'Swimnews online' here

Inside sport: MPs demand minister for Olympic bid

webteam — Fri, 04 Jun 2004 00:34:41 GMT

MPs are to lobby the Government to appoint a Minister for the Olympics, writes Mihir Bose. [Telegraph Sport]

Britain's swimming chief on warpath

webteam — Wed, 28 Jan 2004 22:40:54 GMT

British swimming boss Bill Sweetenham has criticised the UK's "third world facilities" in the build-up to the 2004 Olympics.

National performance director Bill Sweetenham also accused businesses and local authorities of a "parasitical approach" to charges for swimmers.

He claimed: "We have a parasitical approach by those people that run them, trying to extract high revenue from competition uses, and Britain has paid the price for that."

[News.bbc.co.uk - Tue Jan 27, 07:15 pm GMT]

Fair game Comment:...

webteam — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:33:01 GMT

Fair game
Comment: Council tax levy for Olympic bid could fund London weighting instead, argues Geoff Martin.
Feature: east enders wary of Games show
Analysis: going for gold [guardian regeneration news]

Position/organisation	^{( 1)} Salary (£)
Chief Executive, ODA	372,600
Director of Construction, ODA	258,750
Director of Finance and Corporate Services, ODA	253,624
Director General, Government Olympic Executive	220,000
Director of Design and Regeneration, ODA	207,000
Director of Transport, ODA	207,000
Director of Property, ODA	207,000
Director of Infrastructure and Utilities, ODA	207,000
Director of Build and Finance, Government Olympic Executive	180,000
Director of Communications, ODA	175,950
⁽¹⁾ The figures are for basic salary only, and do not include for any performance related bonuses, taxable benefits and pension contributions. These additional benefits will be calculated at the financial year-end and detailed in the annual reports and accounts of the Department and the ODA which are laid before the House."