Paris 2024 Olympics: new pools, courses in the neighborhoods… Seine-Saint-Denis no longer wants to be an aquatic desert

La construction du complexe aquatique de Sevran a été lancée en janvier 2024. MAXPPP – Anthony Lieures

Les deux bassins du centre aquatique olympique seront réutilisés à Sevran et Bagnolet et 15 nouveaux bassins implantés grâce au programme d'héritage des Jeux.

Will Seine-Saint-Denis, the central site of the Olympic Games with in particular the Stade de France and the Olympic village, be the winning department of the event ? We will have to take stock of the promises and take stock of the promises held in a few years. But on the nautical level, the legacy already looks largely positive.

"60% of 6th grade students cannot swim"

Between constructions, renovations and reuse, 18 new pools are planned in this territory historically under-equipped with nautical equipment, as recalled by Mélanie Morgeau, director of the JOP 2024 delegation to the Council departmental of 93: "We have 60m² of basin per 10,000 inhabitants in the department compared to 160m² on a regional scale and 260m² on a national level. And around 60% of young people entering 6th grade do not know how to swim…"

Also read: Paris 2024 Olympic Games: swimming pools, Olympic village… Where are the construction sites of the Olympic works?

The Olympic swimming and water polo competitions will take place in the La-Défense Arena rugby stadium. In May, two 50-meter pools will be installed there and will be dismantled after the event to be transferred to municipalities in the department. Sevran will benefit from the main 50m pool and Bagnolet will recover half of the warm-up pool, the equivalent of a 25m pool. movable bottoms have been planned to facilitate the future adjustment of the height of the pools.

In addition, a pool will be renovated in Montreuil and  15 created respectively in Saint-Denis (3),   Aubervilliers (2),  La courneuve (5) and Aulnay-sous-bois (5).

In Sevran, school reception will be tripled

"We had an outdated swimming pool. This will consume 13% less thanks to solar power and will allow school and club capacities to be tripled, welcomes Clémentine Lerévérend, Sevran’s chief of staff. For example, its cost, of 26 million euros, will be 70% financed by the legacy program of Solideo, the public establishment responsible for Olympic infrastructure, with the Greater Paris Metropolis, the Departmental Council, the State and the National Sports Agency. Its delivery is scheduled for fall 2025.

Marion Le Paul, deputy general director of Solideo underlines "strong ambitions in matters of ecology and accessibility for disabled people ." The Aulnay swimming pool will thus be equipped with sound beacons and a room for guide dogs. The heat from wastewater will be recycled for heating the site.

"The Games are a considerable accelerator"

"We launched a departmental swimming pool plan in 2016 with 40 million euros over 5 years but that was not enough to fill the gap. Games are a considerable accelerator at this level, rejoices Mélanie Margeau.

Also read: Paris 2024 Olympic Games: employment, housing, infrastructure… will Seine-Saint-Denis be the big winner ?

For Quentin Gesell,  deputy vice-president for sports at the Métropole du Grand Paris, this is an opportunity to carry out a "territorial rebalancing with 18.5 million from the metropolis heritage plan". The elected official highlights , "26 new water lines in the heart of the Saint-Denis neighborhoods which will also change after the Games".

Program "1,2,3 swim!" in difficult neighborhoods

At the same time, the French swimming federation is continuing its "1,2,3 swim" deployed in disadvantaged neighborhoods for children aged 4-12. Thanks to the establishment of ephemeral pools and the supervision of FFN educators, particularly during vacation periods, 26,000 children have already been able to benefit from them, including 9,500 in Seine-Saint-Denis . The objective was to intensify the system to train 100,000 new young people between now and the Olympics with the support of EDF, partner of the operation. And if his godfather, Florent Manaudou, gets on the podium again, there is no doubt that he will be emulated.