USA Swimming and Swimming Australia announced the return of the Duel in the Pool competition on Wednesday. The revived event will see the two nations go head-to-head in the pool, and for the first time ever, in the open water.
Duel in the Pool was first conceived in 2003 as a made-for-television event meant to celebrate and showcase the rivalry between two of the best performing nations in swimming. The United States and Australia last faced off in 2007.
This year’s revived meet is set to feature adaptive swimmers and open water competition for the first time. The two nations will each select a team of 30 Olympic, Paralympic, and national team swimmers to contest the rivalry in Sydney.
The pool events will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC), while the open water events will be held at Bondi Beach.
Swimming Australia has touted the event as innovative, promising new race and relay formats, insightful broadcast overlays, and the incorporation of lighting and augmented reality (AR) for fan engagement.
USA Swimming President and CEO Tim Hinchey III commented, “the world’s best thrive when competing against one another, and our teams have established an exciting history of record-setting competition and thrilling rivalries, which will no doubt be showcased in Sydney.”
“We’re proud to partner with Swimming Australia to provide our athletes with another world-class competitive meet and an incredibly unique and exciting event for the fans.”
U.S. Paralympics Swimming Director Erin Popovich added, “by bringing together many of the world’s top Olympic and Paralympic swimmers to race alongside one another at such a prestigious event, we are writing another chapter in the longstanding rivalry and camaraderie between two powerhouse swimming nations. It will show the world the fierce drive that athletes of all abilities bring to the pool.”
The United States and Australia topped the medal table for swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The two countries won 51 of the 111 total medals on offer across the pool and open water.
Both countries also fared well at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympics, where they won a combined total of 68 medals across the 146 events contested at the Games. The United States finished third on the para swimming medal table, while the Australians mustered a sixth place performance.
Swimming Australia CEO, Eugénie Buckley stated, “whether it’s the 4x100m relay in Sydney, or the women’s 400m freestyle from Tokyo, both our past and present are dominated by contests between our two great swimming nations that have defined their respective generations.”
He added, “reigniting the Duel in the Pool will enable us to showcase the best athletes in the world through a format that will bring fans closer to the action and engage the viewing audience like never before, all while adding to the great legacy between our two countries in the pool.”
Australia last faced the United States head-to-head in 2007. Duel in the Pool was held between the United States and a team representing Europe from 2009 to 2015. The revived meet between the United States and Australia is scheduled to be held from August 19 to August 21, 2022.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
