Lucas Oil Stadium is typically home to the Indianapolis Colts and other various sporting events involving a ball. It has never before hosted any kind of swimming, but that is soon to change
The football stadium is transforming into a pool! Kind of.
Held every four years, the Olympic Trials rank as the most prestigious swimming event in the United States. This year’s 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team, which will represent Team USA in the pool competition in Paris, will be decided in Indianapolis. It will be held at the very same venue where Peyton Manning threw touchdowns to Marvin Harrison.
Three temporary pools, two 50-meter and one 25-meter, are currently being installed over the field. A fascinating timelapse video offers a glimpse at the unusual process of turning a football stadium into a natatorium.
Running from June 15-23, the Olympic Trials is expected to generate more than $100 million of economic impact for the city of Indianapolis. Perhaps more importantly, if 30,000 people pack into Lucas Oil Stadium for all nine nights as expected, it is going to be one of the coolest environments in swimming history!
The stadium will be split into two halves. The main 50-meter competition pool will be located on the south side, with 10 lanes. Two warmup pools, at 25 and 50 meters, will be on the north side of the stadium. All three pools will be three meters deep.
Here is how it is going to look:
Construction is already underway, as the video showed, and is expected to be completed in the next 7-10 days. That will give the venue enough time to stage a test trial to ensure the timing system is right and pool temperature is correct, and to make sure that there isn’t any current in the pool.