Swimming athletes officially inaugurate 'Swimming Paradise Jena' as a competition venue

The most modern 50-meter sports pool in Jena is located in the sports swimming hall in Lobeda-West, the "Jena Swimming Paradise", which opened in August this year. It consists of eight lanes, a starting block system and a 1.50-meter wide and variably movable bridge with starting blocks, which allows it to be divided into two 25-meter pools. On Thursday, December 7, 2023, the Jena Bäder will officially start the competition in the sports center with the „Open Thüringer University Championships“. The swimming competition in various distances and swimming disciplines is organized by the USV Jena under the direction of Ralf Günther, supported by the WSG Lobeda e.V.  
 
Susan Zetzmann, Managing Director of Jenaer Bäder und Freizeitgesellschaft: „After the commissioning of the new sports swimming hall for schools, clubs and public swimming, we are delighted to be able to give the starting signal for the first official competition. We warmly welcome all participants to the ‚Open Thuringian University Championships‘, which are the prelude to the competition. I would like to thank the USV Jena for organizing this special swimming competition." 

All competitions will be held under test conditions on December 7. Among other things, the new, fully automatic timing system will be put through its paces in the standardized class B competition pool. The timing system enables precise timekeeping during the competitions.
 
Ralf Günther from USV Jena, head of the swimming department, says: „After we were able to organize the German University Championships in Erfurt in 2013, it is great to be able to hold competitions of this class in Jena for the first time. We will inaugurate this new competition venue with the Thuringian University Championships. Anyone who would like to support us is welcome to take a look through the large hall windows and cheer on our athletes in their competitions.“  
 
Outlook: A special feature of the indoor sports pool is the variable size of the two-meter-deep main pool. A movable bridge allows the eight 50-meter lanes to be divided into sixteen 25-meter lanes. But variable lengths are also possible, as required for water polo, for example. Günther: „We are already planning to start competing in water polo next year. We have already received the first registrations for a competition.
Furthermore, the Thuringian Swimming Championships, the Central German Championships and a national competition in lifeguarding have already been scheduled.  
Please note: Due to the „Open Thüringer University Championships“, the Schwimmparadies Jena will be closed for public swimming on Thursday, December 7.