Swimming fans in Dubai will witness history in the making next month as Dubai hosts the 9th Asian Swimming Championships from 15-25 November. This will be the first time all four disciplines of swimming (50m pool), synchronized swimming, water polo and diving will be contested in one competition in one venue in the UAE, and organizers are excited at the prospect of staging this world class aquatic spectacular.
This is the third major international event to be held at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex in just over a month, after the exhilarating FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup on 2-3 October, and the 1st International Water Polo and Synchronized Swimming Championships on 11-13 October.
“This is also the first time the Asian Swimming Championships have been held in this format of all four disciplines in one event and one venue, and we are delighted that Dubai has been honoured with this responsibility. We look forward to welcoming over 700 athletes from 23 member nations for what will be a truly memorable 11 days,” said Dr Ahmad Al Sharif, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council and Chairman of the Organising Committee.
“We are delighted that among the entries are Olympians and Olympic champions across the four disciplines, and we are looking forward to athrilling competition in every sport,” he added.
Organisers are excited about the quality of competitors expected to enter the event, with the Championships also being a qualifying event for the FINA Swimming World Championships in July 2013. This will encourage all countries to send their best athletes, an exciting prospect with countries such as China, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysiaamong the 23 countries entered.
The men’s water polo competition will include 2012 Olympians Kazakhstan, and the Kuwaiti National Team who performed well against top European clubs at the recent 1st International Water Polo and Synchronized Swimming Competition in Dubai. The synchronized swimming will be particularly exciting with the Olympic bronze medallist China up against fifth-placed Japan and 12th-placed Korea. And in the diving the powerhouse Chinese team will be back to thrill the crowds again, as they did at the FINA Midea Diving World Series held in Dubai in March this year. However the strong Malaysian diving team which took a bronze and four other top 10 finishes at the Olympics will push them hard. The swimming competition also promises to be exciting with 21 nations including numerous Olympic medalists competing.
“We are very excited about again having such amazing talent competing here in Dubai,” said Ahmed Al Falasi, President of UAE Swimming Federation.
“We have had an incredible year of aquatic events, with the FINA/Midea Diving World Series held in March, then the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup in October and the 1st International Water Polo and Synchronized Swimming Championships last weekend. We are looking forward to finishing the year on a high note with the Asian Swimming Championships,” he added.
The 9th Asian Swimming Championships will run from Thursday 15 to Sunday 25 November. The swimming and synchronized swimming competition will kick off the Championships, running from 15-18 November. Next on the program is the water polo running from 19-25 November and the diving from 22-25 November. Tickets to the action will be available at the entrance.
