Phelps inspired by Beijing's 'Water Cube"

I really do not like the architectural design for this aquatics facility. It's called the Water Cube and this will be the venue for all things aquatic for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Phelps and Katie Hoff gush:

• We went and saw it yesterday and it's definitely pretty cool," Phelps said during a visit to Shanghai on Thursday. "I think it's going to paint a picture for Katie and me in our my minds too, to really help us prepare for next year and get us more and more excited," he said. Covered in futuristic bubble wrap, the box-like National Aquatics Center, or "Water Cube," is one of the most striking of the venues going up for the Summer Games, at which Phelps is expected to dominate the swimming competition. [Link]
  

What mystifies me is that Katie Hoff is there, Michael Phelps, and Grant Hackett too with all of the above talent "pimping" the Water Cube, and Chinese swimmers. Why are they doing this? Why is there such a marketing effort as part of this aquatics facility build?

Here is a article that I feel might explain why. This paper is written in India; a country some believe has a national rivalry with China, so the article could be biased. [Link]

Here is an article that touts how marvelous the transparent plastic used to build this aquatics facility is. [Link]

Is it me or do sirens go off in your head about this pool when you read words like: semi-transparent plastic, chlorine, and direct sunlight. It sounds to me like it could become a mold and petrochemical nightmare.

Here is a link to the pool they should have emulated: The Munich Olympic Pool [Link]