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With the Victorian Government having designated Geelong as the host city for swimming, para swimming and diving events for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, details have emerged of the temporary facilities that will be built for the event.

The staging of aquatic sport in a temporary venue, similar to current plans for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, is likely to disappoint Swimming Australia as it will leave no aquatic facilities as a legacy of each Games.

With the Games being held regional Victoria, scoping documents show a purpose-built aquatics facility will be built in the growth suburb of Armstrong Creek, with the $110 million plan including twin 50 metre swimming pools and a diving pool, as well as roads and other connecting infrastructure.

The pools will be temporary structures, to be removed after the Games, with companies bidding for the project advised that it will later be transformed to a multi-discipline community centre.

Advice from the Victoria 2026 Organising Committee states “following the Commonwealth Games, the two 50m pools will be removed and a local sports facility will be constructed.

“The facility is proposed to include sports courts, community pool and green open space.”

As reported by Melbourne’s Herald Sun, event organisers will build Games infrastructure in two stages with an initial term focus on ‘Games mode’ - ensuring facilities are ready before March 2026.

The ‘legacy mode’ will include turning Games villages into private and public sector homes, for example.

For the Armstrong Creek facility, construction for ‘legacy mode’ is scheduled to begin in mid-2026.

A Victorian Government spokesperson said the state would work with Geelong council on its vision for the site, which would fit with a 2014 Armstrong Creek Town Centre Precinct Structure Plan, explaining that this will “ensure this growing community is left with a world-class venue that can be enjoyed long after the Commonwealth Games have left town”.

Melbourne-based Warren and Mahoney has partnered with Geelong’s own Four18 Architecture as design consultants on the Armstrong Creek aquatics venue.

While Victoria 2026’s aquatic sport venue will not be a permanent facility, in the way that the temporary pool installed at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena for the 2007 World Swimming Championships became the centrepiece of Geelong’s Leisurelink aquatic and recreation centre as of 2009, it is likely that the pools will find a permanent home somewhere in Victoria.

CGF Coordination Commission
The recent inaugural meeting of the CGF Coordination Commission (CoCom) for the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games has praised the impressive progress being made for the event.

Responsible for delivery oversight of the Commonwealth Games, CoCom is tasked with monitoring the Games and providing assurance and guidance to ensure it is delivered to scope, schedule and budget.

Held at the end of April, the CoCom delegation was updated on the progress made on key areas by the Victoria 2026 Organising Committee and wider stakeholders.

This included the Games vision, strategy and multi-city model, alongside updates on brand, marketing, First People’s and partner engagement; as well as villages, legacy and festivals.

 The CoCom also toured the Games cities of Bendigo and Geelong, where they met staff at the Organising Committee’s new headquarters.

With three years to go until the Games, CGF President, Dame Louise Martin DBE, thanked the members of CoCom and applauded the work to date, noting that under the guidance of the Organising Committee “and with 20 sports, nine para-sports and a vibrant festival programme, the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games promises be a spectacular celebration of sport, art and culture.”

The Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games, taking place from 17-29 March 2026, will be hosted in five hubs across Victoria: Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton.

Image: Artist's impression of the Victoria 2026 Aquatics Centre. Credit: Victoria 2026.

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