Teams from every part of the world will set foot in Dubai in the following days. The reason for that is the Fina/ARENA Swimming World Cup which will be held on October 2-3 at the Hamadan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex.
In the competition will participate three athletes with Olympic titles, 11 record breakers and 10 present world champions. Their presence will certainly make the swimming race more interesting.
A total of 130 athletes from 32 different countries will try out at the sports event. The competition is the first of eight legs world circuit which will take place until November 11. Apart from Dubai, cities like Doha, Stockholm, Moscow, Berlin, Beijing and Tokyo will also host the event. The final leg will be in Singapore.
The World Cup is organized in this format since 2007. After every leg the winners receive a monetary prize. The record breakers get an additional prize. The winner of the World Cup series will receive $100,000 which makes the title one of the most desired in the swimming sport.
In 2007 the Fina/ARENA Swimming World Cup was won by Randall Bal (USA) and the invincible Therese Alshammar (Sweden). In 2008 and 2009 Alshammar ended second. However, she managed to win the title twice in the next two years. Even at 35 Alshammar still remains a tough competition. Moreover, she is one of the athletes expected to win a medal in Dubai.
Another two-time winner of the title is Cameron van der Burgh. He won the gold medal in 2008 and 2009. After his success at this year’s London Olympics, when he won the title in 200m breaststroke, Burgh will surely try to get another crown.
The athletes who will compete in the race come from various countries. There are representatives from swimming favorites like the USA, Australia, Russia and Germany. They will race against South Africa, Hungary and Sweden. Among the rest of the countries are the Chinese, Japanese, and Ukrainian teams. Kanya will be represented only by Jason Dunford who won the title in Dubai at the Fina/ARENA Swimming World Cup.
The UAE’s swimming team will too participate in the World Cup.
The competition’s finals will be from 6 to 8pm in both days. That means that the audience will enjoy two hours of dynamic races.
At 5.30pm this Tuesday (October 2) will be the opening ceremony. Sports fans are welcomed to join early and witness the start of the event. The organizers shared that they are extremely pleased to be able to hold a world-class competition. They also expressed their hopes that sports fans will have fun watching the race.
As it was already mentioned, the opening ceremony starts at 5.30pm on October 2 (Tuesday). Visitors can buy tickets at the door at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex, which is on the Dubai Bypass Road (E611).
