With only a few more months to go before the start of the London 2012 Olypmic Games, the Aquatics centre, having been completed for several months now, will become one of the permanent venues after the games.
Tom Daley will be one of the first to dive on the 27th July - other representatives of the Great Britain diving team are Hannah Starling, 16 years old, from Leeds, West Yorkshire.
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and Design For London have praised many of the proposals including the Olympic Aquatic Centre. Leeds has also been chosen as the official training base for all 300 of China's top athletes, ahead of the London 2012 Olympics. All their support staff will also stay in Leeds prior to the Olympics, in order to acclimatise to UK conditions.
The Chinese Olympic board also chose Leeds as their official European pre- Games HQ, for their Olympic programme, and is a great honour for the city of Leeds. The Chinese athletes (most will be based at the University of Leeds) will be representing their country sports such as modern pentathlon, athletics, water polo, table tennis, boxing and taekwondo.
The Chinese have a weapon (not secret) Liu Xiang, and is clearly a condender to win gold in the 100m hurdles.
The impact of this agreement cannot be underestimated, in terms of raising the profile of Leeds and its effect on commerce, tourism as well as strenthening our cultural relationship with China.