Press release

London, Great Britain, August 1, 2012 - Probably most of the spectators in Earls Court and even volleyball players do not know that below their feet there’s a huge empty swimming pool.

Situated in the centre of Earls Court One's ground floor, the venue of volleyball in London, just behind the field of play, stands a 198-feet (60 meters) long and 98-feet (30 meters) wide swimming pool.

A 750 ton concrete exhibition floor can be removed and reinstated at the push of a button. When used it takes four days to fill and four days to empty and more than 7 million liters of water are needed to fill it. These operations are usually accomplished at night, so as not to put undue strain on local services, according to EC&O Venues, the company which owns and manages Earls Court and the Olympia, a 125-year-old exhibition center in Kensington area.

Designed by American architect Howard Crane, Earls Court opened in 1937. It hosted some of the boxing, gymnastics, weightlifting and wrestling competitions at the 1948 Olympic Games.

(photo www.eco.co.uk)