Winning in the Pool

Myrtha Pools and A.P.C.
Fukuoka 2023 Japan

And then there were pools.

Scheduling a World Aquatics Championships in a city without the appropriate pools might seem like a bit of an issue, but it’s not even the biggest roadblock the “2023” event has faced.

 

Awarded the 2021 FINA World Aquatics Championships, Fukuoka, Japan was well into preparation when pandemic-related issues forced postponements that have pushed the event first to the spring of 2022, and then again to the summer of 2023.

 

As pool suppliers to the event, Myrtha Pools, along with long-time partner, Aqua Products Corporation (APC), are now preparing the extraordinary venues for the long-awaited 2021 World Championships!

 

With construction of five temporary pools planned, the 2023 championships will be held in some of the most technologically advanced pools in the world.

The Team: Myrtha + Aqua Product Corporation

In 1970’s Aqua Product Corporation (APC), then known as Otto Corporation, organized a Swimming Pool Business Department to start distributing pools, especially for schools and universities. In 1995, APC found in Myrtha a company and technology that perfectly fit for creating stainless-steel pools in Japan. Since then, APC and Myrtha Pools have worked together to create aquatics venues to serve top-level competitions, training, teaching, and fun in communities across the country.

As one of the longest running Myrtha Pools dealers, starting with institutional pools around the country. APC has also a key role to give feedback to the Italian company for adapting accessories and technical solutions to the Japan market. One of the most important challenges for the Japanese facilities was to develop anti-seismic solutions for the pool structure.

 

Together, Myrtha and APC have created dozens of pools in Japan, including the 50 m competition venue we created for the Japanese Games in Ehime. It was 2017, and this national sport competition hosted in the  Ehime represents a turning point that broadened the Myrtha Japanese market to international aquatics events and major projects. After the Japanese Games the competition pool was dismantled and reinstalled permanently in a Japanese school. The legacy of swimming events remains in the country to help the growth of aquatics sports.This reuse concept was also used for an international swimming competition in Tokyo, delivered by APC and Myrtha.

In fact, the three temporary pools used at the Games are now scheduled to be deployed in Fukuoka. The tanks are an example of Myrtha’s ability to offer creative and affordable solutions with temporary structures that can be built, used, deconstructed, and reassigned.

The Pools of Fukuoka

The FINA World Championships are unique in the aquatics world for the wide range of sports and events offered, even more than in the Olympics. The Fukuoka event will feature 6 aquatic sports with more than 150 individual and team events and games scheduled. The games will be run across several venues, with five temporary pools from Myrtha hosting much of the action.

 

For Fukuoka, APC and Myrtha will be installing five temporary pools to serve swimming, water polo, and artistic swimming. This remarkable project is evidence of the productive relationship we maintain through regular brainstorming sessions to deal with everything from new product ideas to installation techniques for areas subject to seismic activity.

All the Myrtha pools at the event will be our top competition technology. The first of the pools, a 3 m-deep tank, will be used to host swimming as well as artistic swimming competitions. There is also a dedicated water polo pool to host the more than 80 games, as the world’s best men’s and women’s teams compete for gold! The other three pools we will have in Fukuoka, will be used for athlete and team training during the games, providing important water time to ensure everyone is at their peak and prepared to compete.

 

The main competition and warm-up pools will remain on site and be used for the FINA Masters’ World Aquatic Championships, an event that will follow the main event. The four venues that will be home to all the action include:

 

Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A – Swimming & Artistic Swimming
Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall B – Water Polo
Fukuoka Prefectural Pool – Diving
Seaside Momochi Beach Park – High Diving and Open Water Swimming

 

At the conclusion of the games (after the Masters), two of the pools will be deconstructed and reconfigured into six permanent high school pools across Japan. This is part of an initiative to increase learn-to-swim opportunities in Japan and is another incredible example of the flexibility of Myrtha’s patented, modular stainless-steel panel system!

Superior Engineering

There’s a watertight case for our modular, kit-like pool system. It outperforms concrete in longevity and maintenance.

Flexibility

A Myrtha pool can be configured to virtually any shape in any space. Our temporary pools can be built into a tennis court or stadium to take advantage of existing seating… then, simply removed.

Project Timing

Every pool we make is precision manufactured in Italy. Controlling every step in the process allows us to meet the tightest of project deadlines. We can do our installation at almost any point in the overall project schedule, typically, even after the space is closed in.

Experience

Working in 60 countries, building 1500 pools a year (that’s more than 4 a day… every day) means we have seen (and solved) it all. That is why we’re a trusted FINA partner and are also in partnership with more than 20 swimming federations, around the world. For Japan market, having a partner like APC, means decades of experience in consulting and hundreds of swimming pools respectively for schools, competitions, high-rise venues and large-scale water parks.

Pandemic Solutions

Originally schedule for 2021, the games were re-scheduled due to the global pandemic, and APC and Myrtha simply delayed installation when the event was postponed adapting to the 2023 timing.

 

Our teams are now set to begin installation in January 2023. The contractor (Obayashi Corp.), Fukuoka OC, our long-time partner, APC, and, of course, Myrtha, have worked together to overcome quarantine and safety guidelines, meet all local regulations.

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