Tokyo 2020 Venues: Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center (Water Polo)
There are many spectacular buildings when traveling throughout Japan. These range from classical architecture, found in areas like Kyoto and Nara, to the modern structures of Tokyo and Osaka. It is a country that can keep you in awe of the ingenuity of human beings, while still trying to find balance with nature. A very unique site while walking through the Tokyo Bay Area is that of the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center. Its unique shape and design makes it a standout in the area. It will be one of the many Olympic venues come 2020 and will host the water polo events. Here are some details on the events, location, transportation and venue.
Events
Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center is part of Tokyo 2020’s Olympic venue list and will hold two events. It will be the stage for the men’s and women’s water polo tournaments. Water polo at the Summer Olympics has been a constant for over 100 years. A sport often dominated by European countries will have its very own venue to be highlighted in the next summer games. Many of you may be familiar with some of the rules but did you know it didn’t always resemble what we see today. Here is a quick history of the development of the game and its time as part of the Olympics.
Olympic Games: Water Polo (July 25th-August 9th)
Water polo was a relatively young sport at the time of it’s introduction to the games. It was developed sometime in the mid ninteenth century in Great Britain, by a Scottish man named William Wilson. The original game actually didn’t resemble the game we see today, but rather was essentially water rugby. You could use various wrestling moves, including holding players underwater to retrieve the ball. You would score the same way you would a rugby try, by placing the ball on the opposing teams deck area. The rules were refined to fit a more finesse and quicker style. By 1888 the London Water Polo League was founded to give more consistency to the rules.
The debut of water polo at the Olympic Games came in 1900, which were held in Paris, France. There were seven teams participating, but from only four different countries. Instead of national teams being represented, it was individual club teams that would compete. They were the Osborn Swimming Club from Great Britain, the Berliner Swimming Club from Germany, the Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club from Belgium and the remaining four were all French. The four clubs representing France were the Tritons Lillois, Pupilles de Neptune de Lille Team 1, Pupilles de Neptune de Lille Team 2 and Libellule de Paris. Despite water polo being popular in the United States of America, no club was willing to participate due to the tournament using “English rules”. The Osborn Swimming Club of Great Britain would defeat the Belgium’s Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club 7–2 in the finals claiming gold. Two French sides would claim bronze.
It wasn’t until the 1920 games where there would start to be a much more diverse competition pool. For the first several games it was only 4–6 nations competing. Come 1920, with the return of the games after an eight year hiatus due to the Great War, the amount of competitors was increased to 12 different nations. Since then they have kept the 12 team format for the men’s tournament. The women’s tournament wasn’t introduced to the games until the 2000 Sydney Games and oddly enough only consist of 8 teams in the tournament.
European teams have continued to have a stranglehold at the top of this sport, with the United States being the only constant exception. Recently Japan has also been a very strong water polo team, which bodes well for the host nation come Tokyo 2020. The medal count for the men’s event is overwhelmingly in favour of Hungary. They have 9 gold medals, 3 silver and 3 bronze. Great Britain has the second most first place finishes with 4 but seem to be a gold or bust kind of team. For the women’s water polo the landscape is completely different. Instead of strictly European dominance, the United States and Australia are also very strong teams. This may be due to the fact female water polo was not part of the games from an early stage. This possibly inhibited female European teams from getting the experience to dominate on world stages like their male counterparts. The United States have the most medals with 5, followed by Australia with 3 and Italy with 2.
Here is a link to explain the rules of modern day water polo.
Location & Transportation
Tatsumi International Swimming Center is part of the Tokyo Bay Area in Tatsumi. It is part of the Koto Ward like a couple other Olympic facilities. It is right along the water making for a spectacular view, but also a somewhat indirect walk to get there. Here is some of the best methods of transportation to get to this venue.
The closest station is unsurprisingly Tatsumi station, which is only about seven minutes from the venue. It is a small station with only one subway line attached to it. It is on the Subway Yurokucho Line and is listed as stop number (Y23).
If you wish to take a train instead of the subway, you will be looking to get off at Shin-kiba Station. It is a part of the JR Keiyo Line, listed as stop (JE05). It is also part of the Rinkai Line, as well as being the next stop over from Tatsumi on the Subway Yurokucho Line, stop number (Y24).
These methods will be by far the most efficient, as the streets in the bay area are rather small, meaning during the time of the games there will likely be alot of congestion. If you want to make a day of it you could walk from central Tokyo but be prepared for many twist and turns along the way.
Venue
The design of Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center is certainly a unique one. With it’s high arching, half dome ceilings and large glass windows, it makes for quite an impressive site. There are also several walkways you can take to navigate through the facility. All this combines to give a futuristic feel to the building and a look of modernity.
The building process started back in December of 1990 and would take three years to complete. It was designed by the Tokyo based architecture firm, Environment Design Institute. There are two main entry points. The first is the main entrance on the ground floor used for everyday use of the facility. The other is the main gate to the seating area that is often used for large scale events. Tatsumi International Swimming Center is no stranger to hosting various levels of Japanese swimming championships. In fact several national records have been set in the building in various disciplines of swimming.
Despite being quite a renowned venue in the swimming community in Japan, it is open to the general public, almost on a daily basis. It opens at 9am everyday and closes at 9pm Monday-Saturday. On Sundays it closes a little earlier at 8pm. It is a mere 600 yen during public swimming times, with the main pool being used for teenagers and adults, with the secondary pool available for children as young as 3 years old (parental supervision required). Inside there is also a small Italian themed restaurant called Crostini, which will undoubtedly be working overtime come Tokyo 2020.
Inside it is incredibly bright, filled with natural lighting due to the many glass windows. The northwest wall of the building is almost entirely made of glass. Besides the two Olympic sized swimming pools, it also has a diving pool as well. In the diving pool there are four diving platforms of various heights and three spring boards. The seat capacity is listed at 5000 according to Tokyo 2020 organizers, however other sites list it at 3500. It is unclear if this means that their will be added seating come 2020 or if these numbers are simply off.
Despite usually being the site of racing aquatic events, come Tokyo 2020, the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center will trade in its racing goggles for a ball and net. The site will be packed with avid fans of water polo from all over the world. With the strength of Japan’s national teams being relatively strong recently, it is sure to be packed with hometown fans as well. This exciting, physical and fast paced sport will be showcased in this truly unique facility.
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