Pan Pacific Swimming Championships to Return Down Under in 2014

BELCONNEN, Australia, May 11. SWIMMING Australia is pleased to announce that Queensland will host the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships featuring the USA, Canada, Japan and the EnergyAustralia Swim Team.

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.

An event which has seen the likes of Ian Thorpe, Susie O'Neill, Michael Phelps and Kosuke Kitajima establish themselves on the world stage; the Pan Pacific Championships is regarded as one the most prestigious swimming meets outside of an Olympic Games and FINA World Championships.

Secured for Queensland by the Queensland Government through Events Queensland, Minister for Tourism, Major Events and Commonwealth Games Jann Stuckey said the event was a great coup for the State.

“It has been 25 years since the Pan Pacific Championships were last staged in Queensland. The 2014 event is a great opportunity to showcase the State to a national and international audience,” said Ms Stuckey.

“Swimming is a key Commonwealth Games sport and securing a major international swimming event in the lead up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games gives us a chance to reiterate Queensland's expertise in delivering world class events and is an important step in our preparations for the Games.”

“The 2014 Pan Pacific Championships is an example of our commitment to establish Queensland as Australia's number one tourist destination and embrace tourism as part of our four pillar approach to the Queensland economy.”

Swimming Australia President Mr David Urquhart said the decision to hold the event in Queensland is a fantastic reward for such a strong swimming state.

“We are extremely grateful for the support of the Queensland Government in securing this event and we know Queensland will be a great place for these top nations to compete and visit,” said Urquhart.

“Brisbane hosted a successful Pan Pacs at Chandler in 1987, and Sydney used the meet as an Olympic test event in 1999. This will be the third time Australia has hosted the event and where better for our athletes to compete than in their home state for many of them.”

More than 60 percent of 2012 Australian Swim Team for the Olympic Games are 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 a decision on the actual venue for the event 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 inter-national 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 organizing 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 Queensland, Australia

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