Town of Sevran celebrates opening of its Paris 2024 legacy – the “Magic Swimming Pool of Leon”

The Paris 2024 Olympics pool in which French icon Leon Marchand won four gold medals has been given a new home.

Originally installed in the Paris La Defense Arena, it has been re-established within Seine-Saint-Denis in the town of Sevran, opening to the public tomorrow (February 9).

And as L’Equipe reports, following the official investiture of the new facility at the Aquarena complex on January 31, it is now being called “the Magic Swimming Pool of Leon.”

The ceremonial confirmation of this Paris 2024 legacy was attended by 1,900 people including two of those who swam with Marchand and Florent Manaudou during the Games to help earn France men’s 4x100m medley bronze – Maxime Grousset and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard.

Shifting this iconic pool from it’s original location to a town of 50,000 inhabitants took four years and cost 29.1 million euros, a sum provided by several public bodies including the City authorities, which contributed 12.9 million euros.

It took 15 days to dismantle the pool after the Paralympics, after which it was stored in containers in the Paris region before arriving at Sevran in September and being re-assembled over the following two months.

“We managed to do a lot of things with this small pool in terms of providing a swimming facility, but we were sorely lacking in water, Aquarena director Ali Dhifallah told L’Equipe. “We had 250 m2 of water for a city of more than 50,000 inhabitants, more than 17 school groups, a middle school and a high school.

“We needed this, and all the inhabitants of Sevran fought for it tooth and nail.it.

“So now we go from a district club to Real Madrid. We deserve it, we worked for it!”

Slightly enlarged, and with additional facilities added, it now replaces the time-worn four-lane pool established at the Aquarena complex in 1976.

After a brass band had played the Games anthem at the inauguration and two youngsters had placed an Games torch in a window, the two Olympians present became the first to dive into the pool in its new setting.

Ndoye-Brouard, who won 100m and 200m backstroke bronze at last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, commented:

“I saw myself back at the start area, cheering on Maxime and Florent who were finishing the medley relay. It reminded me of all that. It’s so good. This pool is a Rolls. And if it can motivate the children to come to the pool because Leon swam in it, so much the better.”

Grousset, who won world 50m and 100m butterfly gold last summer and added six medals, including two golds, at the European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin, added: “It was already great. But here, the Games pool is even nicer.

“In a city where there was a very small pool, there is now a large pool for young people to learn to swim, it’s a great legacy and I’m happy to be part of it. We felt that it was really important for them and that it was a source of pride for them.”

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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