Swimming news: Omaha to host US Masters Swimming Nationals 2012, after the US Olympic Trials
After the Olympic trials that are scheduled to take place from the 25th June to the 2nd of July 2012, the Masters event will take place from the 5th to the 9th of July. It is expected that more than 1000 athletes
will take part in this meet from all over the country. In the Masters events, the swimmers should be of the age 18 and above, and then they are organized and categorized by age groups of five year increments. Currently, there are 50,000 swimmers who are members
of the Masters Swimming and have registered with the association.
The Omaha Sports Commission announced in a press release on Wednesday that the four day event of the 2012 Masters Swimming Nationals will follow the US Olympic Trials. The press release by the officials of the Commission also mentioned the around 1200 to
1500 swimmers are estimated to contend in the Nationals, which are scheduled to start from the 5th of July.
The President of the Omaha Sports Commission, President Harold Cliff said that it is a mega event for the swimmers, since it will be a festival which will offer them four days of nonstop swimming. He also added that according to the Commission, the registered
participants of the Masters will come to see the US Olympic Trials, which will be beneficial for the Omaha Sports Commission. Harold said that all the way round, the events are good news for the Commission.
What makes the Masters Swimming unique from other meets is that it has over 50000 registered members of age ranging from 18 to over 100. Not just this, it is the only organization which provides all the athletic facilities to the competitive and non-competitive
swimmers alike. These facilities include workshops, clinics, meets and workouts.
The Executive Director of the United States Masters Swimming, Rob Butcher said that if the participants of the Masters Nationals come to see the Olympic swimmers like Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin and Dara Torres and cheer for these champions,
it will be an all time memorable experience for these upcoming champions.
Cliff said that through the Summer Nationals, not only the Omaha Sports Commission will benefit, but also the city will be making an economic progress since when these athletes come to the city, they will fill the hotel rooms, their friends and family will
travel around and visit different places in the city and there will be an overall economic impact on the city through the Master National events in 2012.
He added that the event is not expected to attract a lot of spectators and it is more of a participant thing and swimmers are the people who will be benefitting from this meet the most.
It has been on the news that the Qwest Centre will have to bear a cost of 3 million dollars because they will have to remove the temporary pool inserted for the US Olympic Trials and then install another one for the Summer Nationals. The temporary pools
will be warm up as well as competition swimming pools. The test event for the US Olympic Trials is scheduled to take place from the 6th to the 8th of June in 2012 and is named as the Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational.
Cliff also told the correspondents that Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority do not have a problem over extending the stay of the water sports related activities in the area in 2012. Cliff also quoted that after the US Olympic Trials concluded
in the year 2008, the workers began to drain out the warm up and started preparing the competition pool for the events that were scheduled to take place the next day. Cliff said that he is expecting the same dedication from the workers this year and hopes
that they will make the best use of all the facilities that are available at their disposal.
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