The Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre ( pt, Parque Aquático Maria Lenk) is an aquatics centre that is part of the

City of Sports Complex The Barra Olympic Park (Brazilian Portuguese: ''Parque Olímpico da Barra''), originally the City of Sports Complex, is a cluster of nine sporting venues in Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The park, which served as th ...

in the

Barra da Tijuca Barra da Tijuca () (usually known as Barra) is an upper-class neighborhood or bairro in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in the western portion of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known for its beaches, its many lake ...

district of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is part of the investments made by the city to host the swimming, synchronized swimming and diving competitions of the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic C ...

. During the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

, it hosted group matches of

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 th ...

and the

synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédératio ...

and diving competitions. The name of the water park is a tribute to the Brazilian swimmer,

Maria Lenk Maria Emma Hulga Lenk (January 15, 1915 – April 16, 2007) was a Brazilian swimmer, the first South American woman to participate in the Summer Olympic Games, in 1932 (Los Angeles). Biography Born in São Paulo, Maria Lenk was the first Br ...

, who died less than three months before its inauguration. The water park was designed in accordance with established parameters and specifications of the International Swimming Federation (

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

). It is partially covered and includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an indoor heating and a tank for diving. The complex has the capacity to receive about 8,000 people. The construction area is . The facility has also been designed according to the specifications required to achieve the

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

of 2007, as well as environments and equipment ready to receive people with special needs. In March 2008, the facility came under the administration of the

Brazilian Olympic Committee The Brazilian Olympic Committee or BOC ( pt, Comitê Olímpico do Brasil – COB) is the highest authority in Brazilian sport and the governing body of Brazilian Olympic sport. It was officially founded on June 8, 1914, but World War I caus ...

, which has been involved in training for Olympic and Paralympic athletes, coaches and officials, as well as courses, conferences, workshops, gym and small schools of swimming, water polo, diving and synchronized swimming. Until 2009, the BOC did not do any sports activity on the site. The park, as well as other facilities built for the achievement of the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

, was one of the major assets of the city's bid for the

. The aquatics centre was intended to be adapted into community facilities in Madureira Park and the

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West region of the country. The city is nicknamed ''Cidade Morena'' ("Swarthy City" in Portuguese) because of the reddish-brown colour o ...

area. In February 2017, a reporter commented that the aquatics centre had become a

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, sch ...

, abandoned and left to crumble, less than a year after the games.

References

External links

Rio 2016 websiteRio2016.org.br Bid package.
Volume 2. p. 18. {{Olympic venues water polo Venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics Barra Olympic Park Olympic diving venues Olympic water polo venues Sports venues in Rio de Janeiro (city) Swimming venues in Brazil

See also

References

External links