Beijing - Pick your own description. One U.S. swim official called the "Watercube" simply "awesome."
Otylia Jedrzejczak, the only gold medalist from the Athens Games competing in the low-key China Open — the inaugural event at the venue — had a slightly different take.
"I think it's too hot in the pool, and too hot in the changing room," Jedrzejczak said. "The rest is OK."
Only a few thousand fans turned up at the 17,000-seat venue to watch the first official strokes in the facility. What they saw were a few evening heats, which were to be followed by morning finals on Friday.
That follows the same schedule as the Olympics, which has moved the swim finals to the morning to suit North American TV viewers a half-world away.
The first in the pool for an official race was Mongolia's Tsogjargal Narantsog, who was the only swimmer in his 100-meter butterfly heat. Swimming alone, he finished in 1 minute, 6.79 seconds — that's about 16 seconds off the world record of American Ian Crocker — and got loud applause.
"The pool's out of the world," high-ranking IOC member Kevan Gosper said. "You'd think it was sent in from another planet.
"I thing it will be awe-inspiring for the athletes and overwhelming for the new Olympians," Gosper added. "Almost every aspect makes it the finest aquatic center I've seen for an Olympic Games — by far."
Most of the world's top teams — including the Americans and Australians — have skipped the meet.
One of only two officials on hand for USA Swimming was Jonty Skinner, the director of sports science. He came to learn the layout: the route to doping control, the distance to the warm-down pool, and any quirks.
"The pool itself is awesome," Skinner said. "I think the kids are going to come in here and just go wild. When kids goes wild, it just adds to the ambiance of the whole thing. It's the grandeur, the size that's exciting."
