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National diving athletes will come to Hong Kong to display their skills at the opening ceremony of the new Victoria Park Swimming Pool, to be held by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) on November 24 (Sunday). Members of the public will have a chance to witness the marvellous diving skills of the best diving athletes of the world in the diving pool of the new Victoria Park Swimming Pool, which opened to the public on September 16.
A spokesman for the LCSD said that the programme at the opening ceremony will be very exciting, with splendid performances sure to win the applause of the audience. Four Olympic gold medallists - Wu Minxia, He Zi, Chen Ruolin and Qin Kai - will join local diving athletes Xie Zhen and Sharon Chan, who netted silver and bronze medals respectively at the 6th East Asian Games that recently concluded in Tianjin, as well as other members of the Hong Kong diving team, to perform a diving demonstration, he said.
Apart from the diving demonstration, there will also be a synchronised swimming performance and a 4 x 50m short-course swimming relay race. Local athletes will participate in both programmes.
To attract public participation in this event, the LCSD has reserved 1 400 admission tickets for free distribution to members of the public. Group visits by the underprivileged, students and others will also be arranged through community groups and schools.
Free admission tickets for the opening ceremony of the redeveloped Victoria Park Swimming Pool will be available for distribution to the public from 10am on November 17 (Sunday) on a first-come, first-served basis at the swimming pool's office at 1 Hing Fat Street, Causeway Bay. Each person can obtain two tickets.
Spectators at the opening ceremony will each receive a souvenir to mark the special occasion of the reopening of the pool, the spokesman added.
The opening ceremony will start at 11am. Public admission will begin at 10.15am. The spokesman called on members of the public who obtain admission tickets to attend the ceremony as scheduled. Those who are unable to turn up on the day should pass their tickets to relatives and friends who can attend to ensure that tickets are not wasted.
The opening ceremony is a thematic event of "Vibrant Hong Kong" under the citywide "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign.
Built more than five decades ago, the facilities of the old Victoria Park Swimming Pool had become outdated and did not meet the latest international swimming competition standards. The LCSD initiated a redevelopment project in 2009 to construct a new swimming pool complex. Continuing the mission of the old swimming pool in providing a quality service to the public, the new Victoria Park Swimming Pool has been open for public use since September 16 this year. It has been well received by the public with an average daily patronage of over 1 600.
The new swimming pool has been upgraded to provide indoor heated pool facilities which can be used all year round. The new complex meets international standards and is suitable for hosting local, regional and international competitions of aquatic sports including swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming.
The unique design of the new pool complex features a streamlined exterior wall standing alongside the trees in Victoria Park. It also uses a variety of energy-saving measures, and extensive tree planting has boosted the level of greenery.
By providing a venue for staging high-level and international competitions, the new Victoria Park Swimming Pool is conducive to local sports development.
Ends/Friday, November 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:52
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