Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center sees $44 million revamp
MIAMI - From the heart-stopping professional high diver to the person swimming laps in the pool, the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center began as the Las Olas Casino Pool in 1928, the first Olympic size pool in Florida.
Today it's just finished with a $44 million revamp.
"What's unique about this sports venue is that it is open to the public. It's a municipal swimming pool," said Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex manager Laura Voet.
"It's open to everyone, all levels," explains swimmer Barry Krischer.
That includes professional athletes training and competing to families here for Sunday fun day.
"If you have someone next to you and maybe it's a world champion, previous one, it's going to make your day," said former competitive swimmer John McAllister.
Retired professional diver Steve LoBue made the first death-defying dive from one of the main attractions of the complex, the high dive Plattform.
"Divers from the very top platform will reach speeds about 55 miles per hour entering the water so we're really talking about some pretty intense stuff here," he said.
LoBue is now the High Dive Program Director at the Aquatic Complex. He walks us up the dive structure, stopping along the way. "We are on the highest platform that you will see in the Olympics. This is a 10-meter platform," he tells us. But from that point, we're less than halfway.
In all, it's 162 steps to the top. "Here we are," he said when we got to the top, "What an incredible view from the top of this 27-meter platform," he said.
This platform is almost 90 feet high and is the tallest permanent high dive platform in the Western Hemisphere…and it comes along with some big hopes.
"This is the new edition to the sport of diving. We're hoping to make this an Olympic sport in LA 2028 and this facility is the first step toward that dream," he said.
If you want to see some high diving in person, there's a high dive training camp that's open to the public the first week of February.
The grand re-opening is on January 28th at 11 a.m.