On January 24, 2024, the first stone of the building which will host one of the Games pools, bequeathed by Paris 2024 to the city of Sevran, was laid, in the presence of Paris 2024, the City of Sevran, the Department of Seine -Saint-Denis, the Greater Paris Metropolis as well as the partners of Paris 2024, Myrtha Pools and EDF.
Paris 2024 has made the heritage in Seine-Saint-Denis one of the major markers of its project. The Organizing Committee notably decided to bequeath the temporary swimming pools used during the Games to the Seine-Saint-Denis region. In this perspective, Paris 2024 and the Communities designated in 2021 – after a call for expressions of interest carried out in partnership with the Department and the Prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis – have worked together over the last three years on the reuse of two pools that Paris 2024 will install on the Paris La Défense Arena site.
The City of Sevran is the first community to begin construction work on the building which will house one of the temporary pools. Myrtha Pools, official supporter of the Games and supplier of temporary pools for Paris 2024, will reinstall the 50-meter competition pool on the territory of Sevran after the Games.
The aquatic heritage of Paris 2024: a response to a need in Seine-Saint-Denis
These basins meet a need identified in Seine-Saint-Denis. The youngest department in mainland France lacks aquatic infrastructure and has a deficit in essential swimming training:
- 60% of children entering 6th grade in Seine Saint-Denis do not know how to swim
- Seine-Saint-Denis is the 103rd department out of 105 in France in terms of sports facilities. This deficiency is found even more in terms of aquatic equipment.
- Seine-Saint-Denis has only 38 swimming pools for a population of 1,6 million inhabitants, representing 60m² of basin for 10.000 inhabitants, compared to 160m² on average in Île de France.
- According to an IRDS study in 2016, 36 basins are missing to reach non-saturation.
- Knowing how to swim is also a major public health issue : In 2021, 1 accidental drownings were recorded in France.
This is why all the stakeholders of the Paris 2024 Games have made the choice since the candidacy to invest in Seine-Saint-Denis, to leave a concrete legacy after the Games, meeting the needs of the department, particularly in terms of water sports equipment.
In total, 18 pools created or renovated in Seine-Saint-Denis
On the occasion of the Paris 2024 Games, numerous pools will be created in Seine-Saint-Denis, including the two temporary pools which will be relocated to Sevran and Bagnolet. 15 other pools will be created within existing or brand new sports centers such as the Aquatic Center built in Saint-Denis, while one pool will also be renovated:
- Temporary pools installed for the Games: 2 pools relocated
- The Olympic Aquatics Center in Saint-Denis: 3 new pools
- The Aulnay-sous-Bois Aquatic Center: 5 new pools
- The Fort d’Aubervilliers Aquatic Center: 2 new pools
- The Marville Aquatic Center in La Courneuve: 5 new pools
- The Maurice Thorez Nautical Stadium in Montreuil: 1 renovated pool
All of this 18 new basins created or renovated in Seine-Saint-Denis will cover 50% of the needs of the territory (18 basins created or renovated out of 36 to achieve non-saturation).
1,2,3: Swim! a program illustrating the intangible heritage of Paris 2024
While waiting for the material legacy to materialize, Paris 2024 has launched its “1,2,3 Swim!” program. » in Seine-Saint-Denis from 2021, by installing 4 mobile pools in the heart of the towns of Villetaneuse, Clichy-sous-Bois, Sevran and Bagnolet in order to teach swimming to children and adults who wish; a program which illustrates Paris 2024's desire to share the benefits of sport before the Games and with as many people as possible.
From the first year, 2.200 Sequano-Dyonisians were able to learn to swim. The system was then extended to the department's swimming pools, which are usually closed in the morning or do not offer learning courses. In total, after 3 editions of the “1,2,3, Nagez!” program. ", there are 9.400 beneficiaries in 27 towns in Seine-Saint-Denis.
The objective of the program is to enable 35.000 young people to have learned to swim before the Paris 2024 Games.
“With Paris 2024, Seine-Saint-Denis will be at the heart of the Games, with its numerous competition, training and celebration sites. But this exceptional dynamic will last much longer than just one summer. Land of heritage, Seine-Saint-Denis will retain major infrastructures which will strengthen access to sports and swimming skills, particularly for young people, like here in Sevran. Thank you to the City of Sevran, the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis, the Métropole du Grand Paris and the partner companies of Paris 2024, Myrtha Pools and EDF, for their commitment to this great collective success. » Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024
“In a department where the lack of pools is cruelly felt, SOLIDEO is proud to have contributed to building or renovating five swimming pools, which will benefit, as a legacy, schools, associations and all residents of the area. Like our entire program, they will be completely accessible to all audiences and will benefit from a reduced energy footprint. » Nicolas Ferrand, executive general director of Olympic Works Delivery Company.
“I am very proud that Sevran was the winner and pilot of the Héritage approach. We are preparing to welcome a 50m pool after the Olympic Games, as part of an approach that responds in every way to the challenges of our city, urban recycling and ecological resilience. Thanks to this recycled pool, which is inserted into our current aquatic center, renovated and virtuously redesigned, the Sevranais will be able to benefit at home from a concrete legacy of the JOP2024, useful and respectful of our values of defense of the planet and of its resources » Stéphane Blanchet, mayor of Sevran, vice-president of the Departmental Council of Seine-Saint-Denis.
“Learning to swim represents a major issue in Seine-Saint-Denis, with more than one in two children entering 6th grade not knowing how to swim. It is for this reason that the Department financially supports municipalities in the renovation or creation of swimming pools with its successive Departmental Swimming Pool Plans. The dynamics of the Paris 2024 Games also allow us to accelerate this effort, on the one hand, with the creation or renovation of 18 pools in Seine-Saint-Denis and, on the other hand, by offering lessons since 2021 teaching swimming to 9400 young people in the region outside of school hours. » Stéphane Troussel, president of the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis.
“The Greater Paris Metropolis is mobilizing strongly by carrying out numerous actions for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, whether it is the construction of the Olympic Aquatic Center, the Cultural Olympiad, the festivities in the heart of the municipalities or investments in favor of numerous equipment and infrastructures necessary for Paris 2024 and its legacy. The Games constitute a tremendous lever of attractiveness but also of transformation for our 131 municipalities from which Metropolitan residents will be able to benefit during and after the Paris 2024 Games. It is a source of immense pride for the Greater Paris Metropolis to host numerous venues. competition and preparation centers for the Games! Overall, the Greater Paris Metropolis contributes €23,3 million as heritage as part of the swimming pools and reuse pools plan, including €5 million for the Sevran aquatic complex. Patrick Ollier, former minister, president of the Métropole du Grand Paris and mayor of Rueil-Malmaison – Quentin Gesell, vice-president for sports development at the Métropole du Grand Paris.
“We are very pleased to be able to share our expertise in terms of infrastructure adapted to athletes in aquatic disciplines during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. Our sustainable technology (reduction of CO2 emissions, energy efficiency) will thus be deployed in Seine-Saint-Denis, in line with the values of Paris 2024. By covering the needs of one of the least equipped departments in France in aquatic equipment, This event is a real accelerator for the deployment of infrastructure for athletes but also for citizens, to which the Myrtha Pools company is particularly proud to contribute. » Roberto Colletto, CEO Myrtha Pools.
“The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games offer a fantastic opportunity to promote the values of sport across the region: diversity, inclusion, surpassing oneself…. EDF has been involved since 2005 alongside the French Swimming Federation to support learning to swim. With the 1, 2, 3 Swim program, we are going even further by setting the goal of allowing 100 young people to learn to swim between now and the Games. » Alexandre Boulleray, Paris 2024 Sponsoring & External Activations Manager.
