Olympic swimming is coming to the Alamo City next year. The 2016 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team will hold its final domestic training camp in San Antonio before heading to the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 16-day long Summer Olympics will open on Aug. 5, 2016, at the iconic Maracanã Stadium. The swimming event is scheduled to take place from Aug. 6 to 13, primarily at Rio’s Olympic Aquatics Stadium, except for the open-water marathons, that will be held at the military base of Fort Copacabana.
USA Swimming made the announcement Thursday at the Northside Swim Center in San Antonio, where the team will train there from July 13-21 next year. “The Northside Swim Center is one of the top swimming facilities in the United States, and will provide an excellent training environment as our athletes prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games,” said USA Swimming’s National Team Director, Frank Busch.
The state-of-the-art swim center was completed in the summer of 2013. There is locker room space for more than 1,200 athletes, and shaded seating for 2,400 spectators. It features a 50-meter, Olympic-size outdoor pool, and a 25-meter diving and warm-up pool, as well as high-tech timing, lighting, sound and video scoreboard systems.
“Hosting the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team at the Northside Swim Center is a tremendous honor for the Northside Independent School District, the city of San Antonio and all of Texas,” said NISD Superintendent Dr. Brian T. Woods.
Fans will have the opportunity to watch some of the training and meet some of the country’s best athletes, as USA Swimming will keep one practice, followed by an autograph session, open to the public.
The selected team gets to San Antonio after the Olympic Team trials in Omaha, Nebraska, from June 26-July 3, 2016.
