After his exploits at the Olympic Games this summer, Léon Marchand campaigned for Toulouse to recover one of the removable swimming pools from the Olympics. It’s done. The Italian manufacturer Myrtha Pools has just reserved one of its pools for the future Swimming City which is due to see the light of day in the Pink City in 2027.
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It is a symbolic pool that the TOEC Dolphins and Olympic champion Léon Marchand, who once again broke all records at the Short Course World Swimming Championship in Asia, wanted to repatriate to the pink city.
The Italian manufacturer Myrtha Pools has just reserved one of its pools from the Paris Olympics for the future Swimming City in Toulouse in 2027.
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© JULIEN MATTIA / LE PICTORIUM / MAXPPP
Their wishes have now been granted. One of the swimming pools for the Paris Olympics has just been reserved exclusively by the Italian manufacturer Myrtha Pools in Toulouse for its future Cité de la Swimming which is due to see the light of day in 2027.
By August, several cities had positioned themselves to recover all or part of the basins. Competition was fierce between the municipalities. But in September, club president Vincent Gardeau said to himself “optimistic” to recover a pool from the Paris Olympics which was the scene of the exploits of Toulouse Léon Marchand with his four gold medals.
Two months later, under the leadership of Vincent Gardeau and with the assistance of the Ministry of Sports, the decision was confirmed: this Paris La Défense Arena pool will leave for Toulouse.
It is a 25m pool, a legacy of the 50m Olympic warm-up pool at the La Défense aquatic site last summer. The Italian manufacturer Myrtha Pools has made a commitment to reserve it “exclusively” for two years in the city of Toulouse.
The TOEC Dolphins club intends to install this symbolic pool on the roof of the future Cité de la Swimming. He wants to name it with the name of his new king, Léon Marchand.
The only downside is funding. We will indeed have to find 2 to 2.5 million euros more. The TOEC Dolphins and the club’s partners, first and foremost the communities, have two years under the terms of Myrtha Pools to find this money and finalize the acquisition of this pool.
The Toulouse Swimming City project is estimated at around 30 million euros. Half of the funding is provided by local authorities, namely the city of Toulouse, the Haute-Garonne department, the Occitanie region and the State.
The president of the TOEC Dolphins says “confident in finding sources of financing” additional. The City of Swimming should see the light of day in 2027 on Ramier Island.
A project that he will be able to defend in mid-November since the new Minister of Sports, Youth and Community Life, Gil Avérous, will be in Toulouse during the month.
There he will notably meet Léon Marchand in his club Dauphins du TOEC on the island of Ramier. The opportunity, we hope, to guarantee the financing and the arrival of this new pool.
