Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady, Chairperson of the Baku 2015 First European Games Organizing Committee Mehriban Aliyeva opened the Aquatic Palace in Baku April 20.

The presidential couple reviewed the conditions created here. The Aquatic Palace was founded in April 2013, to develop water sports in the country and organize competitions of local and international level.

The Aquatic Palace occupies a total area of 6 hectares. The sports facility covering an area of 72,000 square meters is fully compliant with the requirements of the International Swimming Federation.

The palace has three swimming pools. The president viewed the main pool, where the competitions will be held. The pool, 50 meters in length, 25 meters in width, and 2.5 meters in depth, was designed for competitions.

The length of the pool for diving is 25 meters and the width is 20 meters. The pools were constructed by Italian Myrtha Pools Company.

The facility can host 6,000 spectators. The palace also has sectors for the disabled, VVIP, VIP section and for journalists.

The second pool in the palace was built for training. The length of the pool is 51 meters and the width is 20 meters.

This June, the venue will host three Aquatic disciplines for the Baku 2015 European Games – Swimming, Diving, and Synchronized Swimming.

The disciplines will be completed over 14 days of competition, during which more than 800 athletes will be involved at the Center.

Later, President Aliyev and his wife Mehriban Aliyeva reviewed the Baku Sport Palace after a major overhaul.

Youth and Sport Minister Azad Rahimov informed the head of state of the work carried out here. The state-of-the-art palace has all conditions for holding Olympic and Paralympic games.

The Baku Sport Palace consists of the main sport hall and a technical building. The three-storey building was reconstructed to highest international standards. The reconstruction saw the number of seats at the palace increase from 1,100 to 1,736. There are special rooms for referees, media representatives and VIP guests. There are also doping control rooms, cafes for sportsmen and media representatives.

The palace will host badminton and table tennis competitions during the inaugural European Games.

This year’s exciting and innovative new multi-sport event in Baku will include 20 sports, 16 of which are Olympic, during the 17 days of competition in June 12-28. 6,000 athletes will prove themselves in Azerbaijan’s capital.

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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

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