As has been the case throughout the entire organisation process of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, rumours abound. Social media is at its peak and any news or, worse yet, the misinterpretation of supposed news, can create an information chaos that inconveniences organisers, workers, and even the general public. 

In the early days of 2024, a controversy arose on social media about the Olympic Aquatic Centre in front of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, a commune north of the French capital. 

The official Paris 2024 website on X (formerly Twitter) came out to dispel the rumours with a decisive post: "No, the swimming competition of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have not been 'moved' from the Saint-Denis aquatic centre to the La Défense Arena.” 

Many social media accounts misinterpreted journalistic reports and cross-referenced information, implying that there had been a sudden change that would see the main swimming events moved from the CAO to the La Défense Arena in Nanterre, also in the north of Paris, very close to the Arc de la Défense, with a capacity of 40,000 people in concert mode and up to 32,000 people for rugby matches.

The rumours were sparked by the high cost of the Olympic Aquatic Centre (CAO) project in front of the Stade de France, estimated at between 70 and 90 million dollars. 

Faced with these alleged budgetary problems, social media mutated the information to consolidate rumours pointing to a change of the venue for the aquatic sports, something that the official organisation denied because the Seine-Saint-Denis venue was never officially designated. 

"At no time was it planned to hold the swimming competition in this CAO. Indeed, the initial idea there was to build new facilities next to the current one, with a temporary structure, but this possibility was quickly ruled out because it is much more efficient to move the swimming competition to the Paris La Défense Arena, which has a capacity of between 18,000 and 19,000 people", commented Laurent Ciubini, CEO of the French Swimming Federation

"We gain in terms of spectators in a venue that is no longer provisional but definitive. In any case, it was never planned to hold swimming competitions at the CAO. We had thought about it with the Métropole Grand Paris, but for cost reasons, we could not have a permanent venue with a capacity of15,000 people, it made no sense. In fact, there are fewer and fewer of them being built in the world," explians Laurent Ciubini. 

In other words, the Olympic Aquatics Centre, built for the Olympic Games will host the artistic swimming events, diving, and the preliminary stages of water polo, while the swimming events will be held at the Paris La Défense Arena, according to the original plan published on the official website of the Paris 2024 Games. 

Commenting on this decision, the leading figure in French swimming argued: "In the future, this facility will not be able to host a world championship, which requires a capacity of 15,000 seats and five Olympic pools nearby. That is why all these international events are now held in stadiums or large arenas that have been converted for this purpose."

The Frenchman's claims are easy to verify because, except Budapest in 2019 and 2022, all swimming world championships have been held in temporary pools (Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2007, Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona in 2013 and the Kazan football stadium in 2015) such as the one that will be built in La Défense for the Games that begin on 27 July. 

The organising committee does not want to build stadiums that will not be used later and will be expensive to maintain. The French policy, in line with European Union (EU) guidelines and the 2030 Agenda, is to organise the Olympic Games in a responsible and environmentally sustainable way, without wasting money unnecessarily, as has happened at other Olympic Games. 

Examples of wasted money abound, a symbol of which is what happened at the Rio 2016 Games, where white elephants are scattered throughout Barra de Tijuca (where most of the disciplines of those Games were held and where stadiums or venues were built, now abandoned). 

It is worth remembering that swimming is one of the sports that has been present in every edition of the modern Olympic Games since 1896, with the possibility for women to participate since 1912, when Stockholm hosted its only Olympic Games. 

The exciting Olympic swimming events at Paris 2024 will take place from 27 July to 4 August. A total of 35 events will be held: 17 in the men's category, 17 in the women's category and one mixed relay.