Valhalla Swimming Hall
Encyclopedia
Valhalla Swimming Hall (Swedish:
Valhallabadet) is a swimming hall
located in Gothenburg
, Sweden
. Valhalla was officially opened on December 6, 1956, by Gothenburg's municipal commissioner
Torsten Henriksson.
Valhalla was designed by Nils Olsson
, the design was awarded with a bronze medal at the Olympics in architecture in 1948. The work was completed by Gustav Samuelsson in 1956 after Olsson's death.
Upon completion at 67 000 m³, Valhalla was the biggest and most modern swimming facility in Sweden. The interior decoration of 700 square meters (7 535 square feet) was made by local painter Nils Wendel.
In 1959 the men's tub bathing area was rebuilt to a thermae bath
. In 1967 a 50 meter outdoor swimming pool was added to the facility. During renovations and expansions in the 1980s 185 changing booth were exchanged for lockers to prevent homosexual men from meeting in the locker room area, since it had been a problem. In 1987 the outdoor pool was demolished for a new 50 meter indoor pool.
Valhallabadet was a venue for the 1997 Short Course World Championships
, the main venue was Scandinavium
.
During the 2005 Swedish Short Course Championships
Anna-Karin Kammerling
broke the world record on 50 meter butterfly with the time 25.33.
Valhallabadet will be a swimming venue for the XIII FINA World Masters Championships
in the summer of 2010.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
Valhallabadet) is a swimming hall
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
located in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Valhalla was officially opened on December 6, 1956, by Gothenburg's municipal commissioner
Municipal Commissioner
Municipal Commissioner is an office and political title in the municipalities of Sweden for councillors with executive responsibilities. The Commissioners are the only full-time employed office-holders outside the municipal civil service...
Torsten Henriksson.
Valhalla was designed by Nils Olsson
Nils Olsson
Nils Olsson was a Swedish architect.In 1948 he won a bronze medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for designing the "Baths and Sporting Hall for Gothenburg".-External links:*...
, the design was awarded with a bronze medal at the Olympics in architecture in 1948. The work was completed by Gustav Samuelsson in 1956 after Olsson's death.
Upon completion at 67 000 m³, Valhalla was the biggest and most modern swimming facility in Sweden. The interior decoration of 700 square meters (7 535 square feet) was made by local painter Nils Wendel.
In 1959 the men's tub bathing area was rebuilt to a thermae bath
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
. In 1967 a 50 meter outdoor swimming pool was added to the facility. During renovations and expansions in the 1980s 185 changing booth were exchanged for lockers to prevent homosexual men from meeting in the locker room area, since it had been a problem. In 1987 the outdoor pool was demolished for a new 50 meter indoor pool.
Valhallabadet was a venue for the 1997 Short Course World Championships
FINA World Championships - Short Course
FINA World Swimming Championships or "Short Course Worlds" , are held every two years in a 25 m swimming pool. They are run by FINA....
, the main venue was Scandinavium
Scandinavium
Scandinavium is the primary indoor sports and event arena in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, the arena was built in time for the 350th year anniversary celebration of the City of Gothenburg and was inaugurated on May 18, 1971.Scandinavium...
.
During the 2005 Swedish Short Course Championships
Swedish Swimming Championships
The Swedish Swimming Championships are held annually in the Swedish summer in outdoor 50 m pool. The championships sometimes also works as trials for the Summer Olympics, World Championships and European Championships...
Anna-Karin Kammerling
Anna-Karin Kammerling
Anna-Karin Kammerling is a world-record breaking Swedish swimmer, who was born in Malmö, Sweden. Currently she resides in Sundsvall and trains with the Sundsvalls Swim Club under coach Hans Bergquist....
broke the world record on 50 meter butterfly with the time 25.33.
Valhallabadet will be a swimming venue for the XIII FINA World Masters Championships
FINA World Masters Championships
The FINA World Masters Championships are the world championships open for masters swimmers, swimmers that are 25 years or older and compete in age groups of five years. The championships are held biennially.-Events:...
in the summer of 2010.
External links
- Official Website
- Website for the 2010 Masters Worlds