PRESS | World Swimming Championships - 2007 |
Premier Steve Bracks says Victoria is Australia's events capital after winning the right to host the 2007 World Swimming Championships, expected to bring $100 million and 2,000 jobs to the state.
Melbourne overnight won the right to host the championships after beating bids from Rio de Janeiro and Dubai.
"It is great news for Victoria - we are the events capital of the nation,"a jubilant Mr Bracks said.
"To have the fifth biggest sporting event in the world - the 2007 World Swimming Championships - here in Melbourne is such a great coup."
More than 12,000 interstate and international visitors were likely to come to Melbourne for the event, estimated to be worth $100 million to the state's economy, Mr Bracks said.
The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Albert Park will host the championships which include swimming, diving, water polo, synchronised swimming and open water events.
Mr Bracks was dismissive of local council complaints that there was not enough room at Albert Park for the event.
He said temporary swimming pools would be constructed.
"I think that most residents would be pleased to get the upgraded facilities,"he said.
"I think most councils would give their hen's teeth (sic) for such an arrangement."
The championships will also extend the swimming career of multi-Olympic gold medallist Michael Klim, who have announced retirement plans for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games the year before were now shelved.
"It is quite a bit of time away ... the Commonwealth Games of 2006 was possibly going to be my last event, but it's certainly a great lure for me to continue and race on home soil again,"said Klim, who turns 26 in August.
The last time the championships were held in Australia was in Perth in 1998. Melbourne has never hosted the event.
Melbourne's successful bid to host the event was announced at the opening ceremony of this year's championships in Barcelona.
Source: https://www.theage.com.au
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THE lure of a hometown world championships is set to keep Olympic gold medallist Michael Klim in the sport until 2007.
Melbourne won the right to host the next world titles after beating off bids from Rio De Janeiro and Dubai.
"It is quite a bit of time away . . . the Commonwealth Games of 2006 was possibly going to be my last event, but it's certainly a great lure for me to continue and race on home soil again,"Klim said yesterday.
Unable to compete at the upcoming Barcelona world titles because of a shoulder injury and with a history of severe back ailments, Klim, 26 in August, said competing at home was incentive enough to overcome any hurdle.
"Sydney was fantastic and gave us a big boost and Perth, the last world championships (in Australia) in 1998 was a great event for me, so if I can multiply that a bit by having it in my backyard, (it) is going to make it really special,"he said.
"I can't wait . . . unfortunately it's 2007 and I've got a few other events before that."
The Melbourne event will be held in the first quarter of 2007, by which time Klim will be 29.
More than 12,000 interstate and international visitors are likely to visit for the event, expected to be worth $100 million to Victoria's economy, Premier Steve Bracks said yesterday.
The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Albert Park will host the championships which includes swimming, diving, water polo, synchronised swimming and open-water races.
Bracks yesterday dismissed local council complaints that there was not enough room at Albert Park for the event, especially after temporary pools were built.
"I think that most residents would be pleased to get the upgraded facilities,"Bracks said.
"I think most councils would give their hen's teeth for such an arrangement."- AAP
Source: https://www.heraldsun.news.com.au
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Melbourne wins 2007 swim bid
Melbourne has recorded another sporting coup after being handed the rights to host the 2007 World long course Swimming Championships overnight.
World swim bosses made the announcement in Barcelona as athletes marked the opening of the 2003 event.
Melbourne faced strong competition from Rio De Janeiro and Dubai to win its bid.
"(For the) 12th FINA world championships 2007 (in swimming, open water swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming) - the winner is Melbourne,"said a FINA statement ahead of this month's world championships in Barcelona.
Melbourne, which is also due to stage the 2006 Commonwealth Games, won by 15 votes to Dubai's six in the final ballot.
FINA also announced that Shanghai in China will host the 2006 world short-course championships. Incheon in South Korean and another Chinese city, Macau, had also bid for that event.
Australia will host the long-course championships for the third time after Perth hosted them in 1991 and 1998.
Australian Swimming (ASI) president John Devitt, an Olympic gold medallist in 1960, told the ASI website: "We always knew Melbourne could win the race ... (it) will be another opportunity for Australian Swimming to showcase its many talents.
World and Olympic champion Ian Thorpe, appearing in a special video presentation on behalf of the bid team, said the decision was great news.
"I know, speaking on behalf of the swimmers, just what a great time I had at my first ever world championships in Perth in 1998,"Thorpe was quoted as saying on the ASI website.
"I was just 15 years of age and to be part of that Australian team in a world championship, in front of your home crowd is amazing.
"I'm sure there will be a lot of swimmers, who may have retired after 2006, who just might hang around for 2007. That will be a positive thing, as it was for the 2000 (Sydney) Olympics."
World backstroke champion, Matt Welsh, added: "I thought Melbourne in 2006 would have been a good sign off for me but Melbourne 2007 has got a good ring to it as well and who knows 2008 in Beijing, is only 12 months after that."
"It's great news for Melbourne and I can assure everyone who comes to this magnificent sporting city that they are in for the time of their lives.
This year's world championships in Barcelona run from July 12-27. The 2005 long-course event will be in Montreal, Canada.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au
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