Ticket Sales Surge for Short Course Worlds in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS, September 25. A RECENT surge in orders might enable Indianapolis organizers to meet a target of 55,000 tickets sold for the World Swimming Championships, according to a story by David Woods in today's Indianapolis Star.

Bill Benner, vice president of communications for the Indiana Sports Corp., said Friday that 40,000 tickets have been sold for the Oct. 7-11 event at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Ticket prices are $10-$48.

Benner said the Sports Corp. set its goal on the basis of about 3,000 tickets sold per session for preliminaries and 8,000 for finals.

"I think we can hit it, and we'd be pleased with that," Benner said.

He said sales for weekend finals Oct. 8-10 are particularly strong. The closing session, a Monday night, includes the most medal finals (12).

The fieldhouse will accommodate about 10,000 to 11,000 seats for swimming. Assembly of two 25-meter pools — in which the decks will be higher than floor level — diminishes the 18,345 capacity for basketball.

Benner said pool assembly is running ahead of schedule. The pools are to be filled with water early Monday, thus allowing a week before swimmers begin training there Oct. 4.

Excluding the Olympic Games and Masters championships, this meet will be the first world swimming championships held in North America. Next year, the Long Course World Championships will be held in Montreal, Canada.

Michael Phelps, who won eight medals at the Athens Olympics, is entered in six events at Indianapolis. He is scheduled to swim in each of the 10 sessions.

Australia began its trials today in Brisbane for team selection. Among the entries are Olympic medalists Libby Lenton, Brooke Hanson and Matt Welsh.

————————————————————————

VIIth FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• What: World Swimming Championships
• Where: Conseco Fieldhouse
• When: Oct. 7-11
• Tickets: Prices range from $10-$48 per day. Available from Indiana Sports Corp. (800) HI-FIVES or (317) 237-5026, or e-mail tickets@worldswim2004.com , ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone (317) 239-5151 in Central Indiana, or by visiting the Conseco Fieldhouse box office.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use