When Los Angeles won the right to host the 2028 Olympic Games, organizers promised something that has become increasingly rare in the Olympic movement: use what already exists. The decision to relocate Olympic diving to the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena may be one of the clearest examples yet of that philosophy in action.
In September 2025, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved LA28’s proposal to move diving from Exposition Park to the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. The change is expected to generate as much as $17.6 million in combined cost savings and revenue growth while reducing operational complexity and improving athlete safety. The venue already meets many international standards and requires only limited modifications to host the world’s best divers in 2028.
For Olympic planners, it is a practical decision.
For historians, it is yet something more.
The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center represents a remarkable continuum of Southern California history—from Pasadena’s segregated public swimming era, through the Olympic boom generated by the 1984 Los Angeles Games, to LA28’s effort to demonstrate that major sporting events can rely on legacy infrastructure rather than expensive new construction…