Impending closure of Rose Bowl pools for Olympics preparation has the aqua-set in a funk

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Set us as preferred When they landed the diving competition for the 2028 Summer Olympics last year, operators of the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena trumpeted it as a gold-medal achievement.But swimmers and others who use the facility are now learning that pre-Olympic construction probably will force them out of three immensely popular swimming pools for more than a year.The Aquatics Center will close as early as next April, and not be returned to its regular users until after the Olympics conclude in the summer of 2028, people with knowledge of the plans confirmed to The Times.Such a prolonged closure will send the more than 400,000 people who pour through the center’s turnstiles each year scrambling to find other places to swim, dive, play water polo and aqua-aerobicize.

The center’s two 50-meter pools and an adjacent therapy pool will be closed, along with two expansive hot tubs, the people said.Aquatics Center operators declined to discuss details of the shutdown, saying they plan to make an announcement Monday.They said it’s premature for them to discuss what improvements the Games will bring to the 36-year-old swim complex, as those negotiations have not been concluded.Jacie Prieto Lopez, vice president of communications for LA28, the Olympics organizing group, confirmed that improvements would be made to the facility but said specifics were still being sorted out.

“We cannot comment on specific facility improvements as those remain under active discussion between LA28 and the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center,” Prieto Lopez said “But based on initial evaluations of the existing facility, improvements could include the pool, diving tower and mechanical systems.”Opened in 1990, in part with profits from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the Aquatic Center was once viewed as a state-of-the-art facility.But it ha...