Gold Coast Aquatic Centre redevelopment announcement
Swimming Australia
Published: Nov 12, 2012 10:44:31 AM Updated: Mar 19, 2013 09:37:52 AM
Swimming Australia has welcomed the announcement from the Queensland Government and Gold Coast City Council to bring forward the upgrade of the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in time to host the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.
Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Jann Stuckey made the announcement alongside Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate over the weekend,ensuring the 2014 Pan Pacs to be held in August will be on the Gold Coast.
The event, held every four years over four days of long course competition, will see more than 300 of the world’s best swimmers from the USA, Japan, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia compete for coveted Pan Pacific gold.
As an event, the Pan Pacs has seen the likes of Ian Thorpe, Susie O’Neill, Michael Phelps and Kosuke Kitajima establish themselves on the world stage and it is widely regarded as one the most prestigious swimming meets outside of an Olympic Games and FINA World Championships.
Swimming Australia President Barclay Nettlefold said today’s announcement will fast-track some fantastic facilities and further enhance the Gold Coast’s ability to host national and international swimming events.
“Southeast Queensland is an extremely important area for us in terms of high performance and mass participation, and Swimming Australia is looking to have a much stronger presence on the Gold Coast across a number of areas in the near future,” said Nettlefold.
“Bringing the redevelopment forward to accommodate the 2014 Pan Pacs shows great foresight from the Gold Coast City Council and Queensland Government and they should be commended on this decision.”
“Likewise our CEO Kevin Neil and his executive team who have been working hard on this relationship for the last 18 months should also be congratulated, and we were always hopeful of being able to hold the event on the Gold Coast.”
“The decision to bring this redevelopment forward means there will be some strong flow-on benefits for high performance programs on the Gold Coast, and new facilities also means we’ll be able to look at hosting more events at this venue.”
More than 60 percent of 2012 Australian Swim Team who competed at the London Olympic Games is based in Queensland, with six of the ten coaches also from the Sunshine State.
The 2014 Pan Pacific Championships will be held in August 2014, with exact dates still to be confirmed.
FAST FACTS
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is held under the oversight of the Pan Pacific Swimming Association.
The Association was established in the mid-1980s and is made up of the four founding swimming federations – Swimming Australia, Swimming Canada, the Japan Amateur Swimming Federation and USA Swimming.
These Charter Nations developed the concept of a biennial swimming competition to provide their national teams with first class international competition between the two major international swimming competitions – the Olympic Games and the FINA World Championships.
As FINA modified its calendar in the 2001-2004 period to include two World Championships in the quadrennium (the odd years), the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships also adjusted and has been held since 2002 in the second year after the Summer Olympic Games (2002, 2006, 2010 etc).
The first Pan Pacific Swimming Championships was hosted by Japan in Tokyo in 1985. Since this time, the competition site rotated between Japan and the other charter nations. The host nation has taken responsibility for organising all aspects of the Championships including issuing all invitations to other national swimming federations.
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is held over four days of heats and finals competition.
Host Cities:
1985 Tokyo, JAPAN
1987 Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
1989 Tokyo, JAPAN
1991 Edmonton, CANADA
1993 Kobe, JAPAN
1995 Atlanta, USA
1997 Fukuoka, JAPAN
1999 Sydney, AUSTRALIA
2002 Yokohama, JAPAN
2006 Victoria, CANADA
2010 California, USA
2014 Gold Coast, AUSTRALIA
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