By: Eric He

Transforming Lucas Oil Stadium into a swimming pool for the U.S. Olympic Trials required meticulous planning, coordination, and execution. With Shana Ferguson’s help, Lucas Oil Stadium will host one of the most seated swimming events ever.

You may be surprised that while the swimming event was in the Oil Stadium, the pool wasn’t necessarily built there. Instead, it was built in a separate location beforehand. According to Athletic, “It all started, unsurprisingly, with the pool itself, which was built over the past three weeks, with construction beginning on May 12 and wrapping up this week. Nearly two million gallons of water were brought in from the nearby White River; it will then be held in tanks that allow it to be constantly circulated, cleaned and chlorinated before it filters in and out of the three pools.” Planning the blueprints of turning Lucas Oil Stadium into a swimming pool started months back from the time of the Olympic Trials, showing how well planned the engineers were.

There are also many benefits of having the Olympic Trials in the Lucas Oil Stadium. One benefit is that the Lucas Oil Stadium can seat way more than most pool stadiums. Its configuration allows 30,000 regular stadium seats which face the competition pool, as well as 20 rows of movable seats for the fans. With this number of seats for the crowds, event organizers for the trials hoped to shatter the previous world record of 14,000 audience members.

The successful transformation of Lucas Oil Stadium into a swimming pool for the U.S. Olympic Trials not only demonstrated months of early planning but gave more people the chance to watch their countries perform.