Montreal Edges Long Beach for 2005 World Champs

By Takahisa Ide

FUKUOKA, Japan, July 21. THE World Championships are coming to North America – but not the USA. Montreal, site of the 1976 Olympic Games, won the vote to host the 11th World Swimming Championships in 2005, FINA announced today. The Canadian city beat the US entrant, Long Beach, California, by one vote, 11-10.

Barcelona will host the 2003 meet.

The selection process required three rounds of voting, with Montreal the leader in all three rounds. Under FINA rules, the city with the fewest votes is eliminated in each round until one city has aan outright majority.

On the first ballot, Montreal had 8 votes, followed by Long Beach and Rio de Janeiro with 5 apiece, and Melbourne with 3.

In round two it was Montreal 9, Long Beach 8 and Rio 5.

In the final round, Montreal edged Long Beach 11-10.

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