Future Swimming Champs Up for Grabs

(ATR) FINA says seven countries want to host the 2021 or 2023 world championships.

Despite criticism over the cost of the event, the aquatics federation now has multiple countries interested in hosting their future championships.

FINA announced Thursday that Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, Turkey and Qatar have all expressed interest to host either the 2021 or 2023 FINA world championships.

Earlier this year, Guadalajara suddenly retracted their right to host the 2017 FINA world championships after stating the $100 million price tag for the event was too high.

After the decision was made in February, FINA quickly began their search for a replacement host. Countries such as the United States echoed Guadalajara’s sentiments.

"We would love to host a long course world championships in the United States, but the economic requirements make it impossible for us to seriously consider," said Chuck Wielgus, executive director for USA Swimming.

The executive director for the American and World Swimming Coaches association John Leonard also criticized the cost of the event.

"FINA has now inflated the price of a world championships beyond what any democracy would consider prudent to pay for a sports event," Leonard said.

A month after criticism surfaced, Budapest, Hungary announced they would step in to host the 2017 championships.Budapest had been selected by FINA to host the 2021 world championships. This agreement for Budapest was part of FINA’s selection of four host cities for their next four world championships, making the federation one of the first to do so.

The city’s decision to step in for the 2017 championships reopened the race to host the 2021 event, accompanied by the race to host the 2023 edition as well.

The seven countries that have expressed interest will now be invited to an informational meeting on June 30 to kick-start the bidding process. FINA says they hope to make a selection for the hosts of these two championships by the end of 2015.

The 2015 edition of the FINA world championships will get underway July 24 in Kazan, Russia.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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