Doha: The Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) has intensified its preparations for hosting the second round of this year’s Fina/Arena Swimming World Cup, 2012.
The event is to take place on October 6 and 7 at the Hamad Aquatics Center in Aspire Zone.
The Doha round is the second of the eight rounds programmed for this competition. The first round is scheduled to end in Dubai today.
After Doha, the 3rd round will be staged in Stockholm, Sweden on October 13-14 and will be followed by Moscow, Russia on October 17-18, Berlin, Germany on October 20-21, Beijing, China on November 2-3, Tokyo, Japan on November 6-7 and finally Singapore on November 10-11.
The event will feature the participation of some of the best swimmers in the world such as the South African Cameron van Der Burgh, Olympic gold medalist in London 2012 in 100m Freestyle and world record holder for the 50m and 100m breaststroke.
His countryman, Chad Le Clos is also an Olympic gold medalist in the distance of 200m Butterfly in London where he dominated the American legend, Michael Phelps.
Among other stars taking part in this Doha Swimming World Cup round is the Hungarian Daniel Gyurta, the gold winner in the London Olympics in the 200m breaststroke and the Japanese Kosuki Hagueno, bronze medalist in the 400m medley in the Olympics.
Among women German Britta Steven, world record holder in the freestyle 50m and 100m and the Sweden’s Theresa AlShammar, world record holder for the Butterfly 50m, and world number one in the World Cup for the two last years.
Khaleel Al Jabir, President of QSA and Chairman of the Organising Committee, said that this event attracts some of the best athletes in this sport and provides real opportunities for promotion and advertisement in the world level.
He also reiterated that Doha is ready to host a very successful round of this major international competition.
The Qatari official said that hosting such a big event will strengthen the position of the QSA as a world class sporting organiser.
“This World Cup event will also be like a rehearsal for the Swimming World Championships in December 2014 and will a great opportunity for our Qatari staff to acquire more experience and knowhow in hosting major events, beside consolidating our relations with the international federation and the other national federations participating in the event,” Al Jabir said.
“Our young swimmers will also learn a lot and watching great champions and stars will be very motivating for them.”
The Organising Committee launched the ticketing campaign for the event last Saturday at the QOC outlet in the Landmark Mall, at the Hamad Aquatics Center and at the premises of the QSA at Al Bidaa Tower on Doha Corniche. Tickets are priced at QR10. Fina, the International Swimming Federation, has announced that Doha will host this prestigious event also in 2013.
The Peninsula
