CHICAGO, Dec 13: The competition pool for a Chicago Olympics would last about as long as a swimming world record does these days.

Chicago 2016 organisers unveiled on Friday several venue changes they say will benefit athletes and the community, and make their bid more attractive. In addition to moving the aquatic centre and making the swimming pool a temporary facility, the sailing, canoe/kayaking, track cycling and BMX cycling venues all will be moved under Chicago’s retooled bid plan.

“We worked very closely with international sports federations and national governing bodies,” said Doug Arnot, Chicago 2016’s operations chief. “This plan is better for sport, better for the games and, perhaps most importantly, better for Chicago’s youth sports legacy. This plan remains very financially responsible.”

The changes will add about 5 per cent to the budget, which remains at $4.7 billion (3.5 billion euros), Chicago 2016 chairman Patrick Ryan said. That’s a bargain compared with other Summer Games; London estimates its overall costs for the 2012 Olympics will be about $16.5 billion, three times the original estimate.

Chicago is bidding against Tokyo; Madrid, Spain; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Games, which would be the first Summer Olympics in the United States in 20 years. Chicago is touting a compact bid, with 90 percent of athletes within a 15-minute drive of their competition sites and most venues clustered along the scenic downtown lakefront.

The warm-up pool, a permanent venue, will be adjacent to the temporary competition pool and the two will be separated by a deck, much like they were in Beijing. There will also be a separate diving well and a pool for water polo. All temporary pools will be moved to other Chicago parks after the games.

Temporary pools have been a success at other high-profile events, including the last two US Olympic trials. Michael Phelps even set world records in the 200 and 400 individual medleys at this summer’s trials in Nebraska.

The aquatic centre site also has changed. It now will be in Washington Park, near the Olympic Stadium, instead of in Douglas Park.

The move allows room in Douglas Park for a velodrome that will host track and BMX cycling. The velodrome will be converted to a multi-use facility after the games. Northerly Island, a former airport with picturesque views of the Chicago skyline, will now host canoe/kayaking and sailing, as well as beach volleyball.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will pick the host city next October at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ryan also said the current economic crisis has forced the bid committee to adjust its surplus estimate to $500 million, down from $725 million. The additional $225 million was expected to come from the sale of the Olympic village to a real estate developer, who would convert the village to mixed-use housing after the games.

Because the real estate market is so slow, Ryan said the committee isn’t comfortable predicting any profit.—AP