Azure Swimming Pool

Azure Swimming Pool
	The Azure Swimming Pool in October 1996 before its closure in 1998
Building information
City	Pripyat, Ukraine
Coordinates	51°24′24″N 30°02′57″E / 51.4068°N 30.0492°E
Opened	1970s
Closed	1998
Pool
Width	22 m
Lanes	5

The Azure Swimming Pool (Ukrainian: Басейн Лазурний) is one of the indoor swimming pools in the abandoned city of Pripyat,^[1]^[2] Ukraine, which was affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

History

The complex was built in the 1970s and remained in use until 1998 (12 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster); during those 12 years the swimming pool was mainly used by Chernobyl liquidators.^[3] The swimming pool was considered to be one of the cleanest places in Pripyat.^[4] However, the swimming pool and the adjacent indoor basketball court have been abandoned and left to decay since its closure in 1998.

In popular culture

The swimming pool appears in the following:

Ukrainian writer Markiyan Kamysh's novel A Stroll to the Zone, which is centred around illegal trips to Pripyat^[5]^{[full citation needed]}
The video game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in the mission "One Shot, One Kill" and also in the multiplayer map "Bloc"
Music video of the song "Marooned" by English rock band Pink Floyd^[6]
Music video of the song "Sweet People" by Ukrainian singer Alyosha^[7]
The short film Postcards from Pripyat, filmed by CBS cameraman Danny Cooke^[8]
Chinese technology company DJI's story, Lost City of Chernobyl^[9]
The video game PUBG: Battlegrounds
Music video of the song "Life Is Golden", by English rock band Suede (along with other locations in Pripyat)
The video game Warface
The video game Call of Duty: Warzone
The video game Metro Exodus's "Sam's Story" DLC
The HBO miniseries Chernobyl
At a location called 'The Storage' in the video game Second Life

Gallery

The exterior of the swimming pool in 2009
Another view of the exterior of the pool in 2009. The outdoor clock is visible in the upper right corner of the picture.