Melbourne Sports Centres - MSAC is an international sporting venue located in Albert Park,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The centre was opened on 24 July 1997 at a construction cost of A$65 million. The cost was funded by the

State Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

and the

City of Port Phillip The City of Port Phillip is a local government area of Victoria, Australia on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.7 km² and had a population of 113,200 in June 2018. P ...

. The centre has hosted international events including the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

and the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. The centre has several swimming pools and international standard diving facilities. There is a large multi-purpose sports hall used for sports such as badminton, basketball, table tennis and volleyball, and also squash courts and a gym. It is one of four sporting facilities in Melbourne - the others being the

State Netball and Hockey Centre State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * '' State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our ...

(SNHC), the MSAC Institute of Training (MIT) and

Lakeside Stadium Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park, Victoria, Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association ...

- to be named under the banner of Melbourne Sports Centres, and is operated by the State Sports Centres Trust. The centre is accessible by tram routes 12 and 96 which both pass near

Southern Cross railway station Southern Cross railway station (until 2005 known as Spencer Street station) is a major railway station in Docklands, Victoria, Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, Melbourne, Spencer Street, between Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins ...

and the

Melbourne City Centre The Melbourne central business district (also known colloquially as simply "The City" or "The CBD") is the city centre and main urban area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city la ...

Construction

Stage 1

The first part of MSAC's construction was completed in 1997. This included the majority of the facilities currently at MSAC including the indoor pools and the sports hall.

Stage 2

In 2002, it was announced that MSAC would be expanded in time for the

. A new hydrotherapy pool, a new 50 metre outdoor pool and improved transport links were some of the facilities added in the $51 million expansion. Work began on the Stage 2 project in September 2003. The expansion opened in early 2006. Since then, a movable floor was installed in the 50m outdoor pool which allows the water depth to be varied.

Facilities

The centre boasts numerous facilities.

Aquatics

* Indoor 50m pool * 25m lap pool * Multi-purpose pool * Hydrotherapy pool * Outdoor 50m pool * Wave pool * Diving boards * Water slide dismantled as at 31 Dec 2019

Sport

* 10 indoor basketball courts * 10 squash courts * 12 badminton courts * 18 table tennis tables * 3 volleyball courts National Basketball League club

Melbourne United Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 a ...

have been based at the centre since the start of the 2018/19. The team trains in the basketball precinct, which features an 1800-seat show court, and have their club offices and facilities located in the centre.

Events

MSAC regularly hosts many events including state and national championships. Among the major events MSAC has hosted are: * 2001 Women's World Open Squash Championship * 2005 Summer Deaflympics *

- squash, diving, swimming, table tennis * 2007 FINA World Swimming Championships - diving,

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

* 2007 and 2008 Australian Club Championships * NBL games for Victoria Giants *

2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) took place from 13 to 18 December 2022 in Melbourne, Australia at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Melbourne sports and aquatic centre from albert park lake

Charlene Wittstock Charlene (' Charlene Lynette Wittstock; French: ''Charlène'';Since her marriage, her name has been Gallicised by adding a grave accent to her name in French documents. born 25 January 1978) is the princess consort of Monaco and a former Olympic ...

, the future Princess of Monaco, won a gold medal for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the 2002 World Cup held at MSAC. She returned to the MSAC on a royal visit to Melbourne in March 2012.The Age: "Fairytale in Bendigo" http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/a-fairytale-in-bendigo-as-charlene-enters-with-grace-20120310-1urgh.html

External links

Melbourne Sports Centres - MSAC official website
* *

References

{{Melbourne landmarks Sports venues in Melbourne Swimming venues in Australia Basketball venues in Australia Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) venues 2006 Commonwealth Games venues Sports venues in Victoria (Australia) Badminton venues Commonwealth Games swimming venues Netball venues in Victoria (Australia) Sport in the City of Port Phillip Sports venues completed in 1997 1997 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Port Phillip Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Diving at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Water polo venues in Australia