U.S. swimmers return to pools

A severe storm damaged the site of the U.S. Olympic trials and canceled practice Friday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Hundreds of swimmers resumed practice for the U.S. Olympic trials at the Qwest Center’s two pools Saturday, while repairs were made to the arena after damage by a severe storm a day earlier.

Powerful winds tore siding off the front side of the building, and heavy rain overloaded the arena’s main drains. A 12-inch pipe in one section was blown out, causing water to cascade down steps in the seating area and onto the pool deck.

“We’re not pretty, but we’re functioning,” said Roger Dixon, president and chief executive officer of the 7-year-old arena. “We’re beat up a little bit. We’re very lucky we had no injuries.”

About 600 swimmers, including superstar Michael Phelps, were ordered out of the competition and warmup pools Friday afternoon and sent to the building’s interior hallways and lower floor. About two hours later, after the storm had passed, the building was cleared and practice was canceled for the rest of the night.

The water in both temporary pools was unaffected, Dixon said.

Swimmers returned Saturday at 6:30 a.m. for the first of two practice sessions. The eight-day meet to decide the U.S. Olympic team begins today, with 1,250 swimmers competing.

Dixon estimated that hundreds of thousands of gallons of water flowed from the burst pipe.

“We had a new waterfall, but today it looks great,” he said.

Dixon toured the building’s roof and discovered “huge blocks of hail” that had melted together.

Much of the debris outside the arena had been cleaned up Saturday, when the building’s electrical system was still being assessed, Dixon said. Ceiling panels damaged in the southeast section were being replaced.

The electronic ribbon panels going around the upper section of the arena were working, as was the scoreboard, video control room, the Omega timing system and television cameras.

Dixon said the front of the building would not be fully repaired until after the trials.

A backup plan is in place if severe weather strikes again during the trials, including moving the event to one of two undisclosed out-of-state locations, according to Harold Cliff, chief executive officer of the trials.

“We certainly hope we don’t need to do that,” he said. “The building withstood an enormous force yesterday very well.”