For several months, rumors have been circulating about a future wave pool, located in Japan, on the occasion of the 2020 Olympic Games. Since yesterday, we are able to say that there will indeed be a wave pool built in the city of Kisarazu, located in the prefecture of Chiba in Tokyo Bay. Here, exactly where the next Olympics will be held... Coincidence?
The information was released by the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Newspaper. According to them, the acquisition of 54 hectares of land was validated last March and the work would be supervised by WSL and Kelly Slater in person. That's enough to confirm the rumors. Yes, there will be a Surf Ranch in Tokyo. The question now is to know if the pool will be finished before the beginning of the Olympic Games but especially, if the Olympic Games will take place inside...
580 meters long and 150 meters wide, it will be slightly smaller than Kelly's Surf Ranch. Equipped with a device generating artificial waves by electric control, its technology will produce waves about two meters high. Work will begin next September and, if everything goes according to plan, will be completed in December 2019.
A few weeks ago, ISA President Fernando Aguerre officially announced that the surfing events of the next Olympic Games would be held in the ocean (not a Gorafi title) on the beach of Ichinomiya (where the Ichinomiya Open Chiba takes place) to be exact. It is the opposite of Kisarazu, (approximately 1-hour drive). If the announcement is not called into question, one may wonder whether last minute changes will not take place. And why the hell would Kelly want to export a Surf Ranch to Japan?
Remember that this will not be the first Wavepool built in Japan. Indeed, the land of the rising sun held one of the largest wave pools in the world, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records. Built in 1993, the Seagaia Ocean Dome is 300 meters long and 100 meters wide.
