BRITAIN TO BID FOR 2010 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Great Britain is one of seven nations hoping to stage the
2010 IPC Swimming World Championships following an initial
application made by the county's national governing body for
swimming.
British Swimming has made an expression of interest to the
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and is spearheading
a bid in partnership with UK Sport and Sheffield City Council
to host the four-yearly Championships at Ponds Forge International
Centre, one the country's top swimming facilities and host
to the 1991 World Student Games.
Britain has a strong history of Paralympic swimming and is
a leading country in the sport. Its team returned from the
IPC World Championships in Durban earlier this month as World
Champions for the second time running (with 24 gold, 14 silver
and 14 bronze medals) and Great Britain has been central to
the success of the Paralympic World Cup which is hosted from
2005 to 2007 in Manchester.
But Sheffield faces tough opposition from Athens (Greece),
Eindhoven (Holland), Saint Raphael (France), Debrecen (Hungary),
Minneapolis (USA) and Bogota (Columbia) to host the second
largest competition in disability swimming after the Paralympic
Games.
British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes believes the
2010 World Championships will play a vital role in the country's
preparations for the London Paralympics.
"The IPC World Championships will play an important
part in our build-up to 2012," said Sparkes. "Not
only will it develop our athletes, but it is also a significant
opportunity to develop expertise of our staff and volunteers
two years out from the Games.
"The competition for this event is very strong and we
will be up against world class countries. The challenge for
us is to come up with a bid that showcases Paralympic swimming
and moves competition up to the next level.
"We will be working with the IPC in the New Year to
develop the bid and we are looking at a number of innovative
ideas to put together a strong bid to rival the other nations."
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