A Delay for Athens Pool

A key test event scheduled for the main pool of the Athens Olympic swimming venue was postponed by two months, a potentially worrisome development for organizers whose ingenuity has been tested by delayed construction work on venues, roads and transportation systems.

The event at the Olympic Aquatic Centre was to have taken place April 15-18 but will now be held June 9-12. No U.S. swimmers are entered.

Greg Eggert, a member of the press commission of FINA -- the international swimming federation -- confirmed the switch Friday in an e-mail to The Times, but said he could not explain the delay. He deferred questions to FINA headquarters in Switzerland, but officials there could not be reached for comment.

“This was a decision made by ATHOC [the Athens Organizing Committee] in consultation with FINA,” Eggert said in an e-mail.

The Games will run from Aug. 13-29.

The pool itself is not new, but it required renovations for the Games. ATHOC had agreed to erect a temporary roof to shield swimmers, water polo players, officials and spectators from the broiling sun and enhance TV coverage. However, ATHOC announced last month it would not have time to install the temporary roof.

The decision drew a strong rebuke from FINA, which said in a statement it had learned of the change “with great disappointment.”

Test events are designed to be trial runs for computer systems, lighting, and the field of play. Besides the roof being eliminated, a tram line serving seaside venues was shortened and a project to widen the marathon route was scaled down to meet Games deadlines.