Olympic Games

Venues-Aquatic Centre

A night out at the Water Cube

Last Updated: Thursday, August 13, 2009 | 2:22 PM ET

Bernice Chan CBC Sports

A Chinese man is silhouetted near the National Aquatics Center also known as the Water Cube. The center will host the swimming and diving competitions during the summer Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. (Color China Photo/Getty Images)

The first time I passed by the National Aquatic Center relatively close up was when I ran by it during the Beijing International Marathon in October. I wasn’t running 42K, but 10K, along with thousands of other people, black hair bobbing up and down.

As it wasn’t finished, the area around the aquatic center was still dirt and rubble, but the building was a curious concoction – a giant box with blue bubbles sticking out of it. So it’s not hard to see why Beijingers are calling the National Aquatic Center “Shuili Fang,” which means “Water Cube” or “Water Square.”

When the Water Cube finally was completed, I got a chance to check it out during the Good Luck Beijing 2008 Swimming China Open on January 31.

A colleague gave me and another foreigner media passes and we went after work. When we got there, lots of people were also converging on the building. The path leading to the Water Cube wasn’t quite paved yet and we all made our way on the uneven ground.

Hypnotic aura at night

The building looks so cool at night –LED lights make the Water Cube light up in a deep blue and you can’t help but look at it hypnotically, drawn into its glowing aura.

Everyone with tickets to the event took pictures of themselves in front of the venue, posing with frozen smiles complete with fingers in the victory sign in the cold dry weather.The diving platform at the National Aquatics Centre, which will host swimming, diving and synchronized swimming during the 2008 Olympic Games. (Feng Li/Getty Images)

Our passes quickly were glanced over and then we had to enter a security check that involved going through a metal detector so my bag could be screened by an X-ray machine. I had to leave my water bottle behind because they wouldn’t let me bring it in.

After that we had to walk practically around the entire building before we could find the media entrance. As the building had recently finished construction, the lobby area wasn’t much to look at – white walls, brand-new elevators and signs printed on pieces of paper stuck to the walls.

But you could see the bubbles, now from the inside, concave shells that are made of ethylene-tetrafluroethylene (ETFE). According to the designers, PTW Architects, the material is so light and flexible that it can be stretched three or four times its size. And we were told the skin can withstand the weight of a car. I would pay to see that.

Pool water is drinkable

Nevertheless, over-enthusiastic volunteer staff made of university students showed us to our seats in the main competition area, gave us free bottles of water and an endless stream of sheets listing the competitors as well as time results.

The interior is fantastic, but not as impressive as the exterior. The Olympic-sized swimming pool is in the middle flanked by the audience on both sides. Down at one end is the diving tank and at the other a giant screen posting names, results as well as shots above and under the water.

Organizers boast that the water in the pool is drinkable. Clean, potable water is a big deal in Beijing, and all over China, where one would be foolhardy to sip from the taps. Still, there must be chlorine in the pool. In any event, I’m not tempted to drink it after all that sweat, saliva and lycra doing time in there.

When the competition started, a host led the swimmers to each of their blocks. They were then instructed to remove their warm up suits and flip flops and put them in the bin next to them which were then promptly carried away by an army of volunteers in precise military fashion.

But during the first few races, you could practically hear a pin drop save for the splashes in the pool – the audience was so quiet. Why can’t they be like that during classical music concerts?

It was the coaches and fellow swimmers who began whistling and shouting encouragement and soon the audience realized they weren’t there just to ooh and ahh over the Water Cube – their job was to cheer the athletes.

Clapping and shouting

Towards the end they were clapping and shouting, “Jia you!” (“Keep going!”). It’s a common Chinese expression you hear this a lot these days in Beijing, and you’ll probably hear it a lot more come August.

As it was only the first day of competition, the heats soon ended and the audience and media poured out of the building. Because the area outside the Water Cube still wasn’t developed, there was no systematic way of hailing a cab. People were everywhere, jaywalking or walking onto the road as the sidewalk wasn’t finished.

While it’s a wonderful venue, and definitely one of my favourites, crowd logistics is not a forte in China. One hopes organizers realize there needs to be better crowd control, not only in getting people in and out of venues, but also organizing ways to get them transportation in an efficient and orderly manner.