GREENSBORO -- A national youth championship through the YMCA is coming to the Greensboro Aquatic Center in 2012.
The announcement came today in a news conference at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The YMCA 2012 Short Course Swimming Championships is expected to attract about 1,600 swimmers and divers to the aquatic center for the event planned for April 2-5, with an additional 4,000 spectators.
The event will be hosted by the Greensboro Aquatic Center in cooperation with the Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greensboro Sports Commission, Tournament Host Committee of Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, YMCA of Greensboro and the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel and Joseph S. Koury Convention Center.
“We are excited and confident that Greensboro will make this an extraordinary event for our Y athletes, their families and friends,” stated Jim Weaton, National Director of Events for YMCA of the USA. “We look forward to celebrating the very best in Y swimming in this new, state-of-the-art venue. Our young people have worked very hard and their families have made significant sacrifices to see them develop and reach this level. We owe it to all of them to make this an experience, both in and out of the pool that will be remembered for a lifetime. We believe we have found such a place in Greensboro, North Carolina.”
The YMCA Short Course National Swimming Championship has consistently been YMCA of the USA’s largest competitive championship event. The event has average more than 1,600 swimmers between 2009 and 2011 with an additional estimated 4,000 spectators in attendance.
“The YMCA National Short Course Swimming Championship is a prime example of the type of economic impact generating event the Greensboro Aquatic Center was created to host and bring to our community,” said Greensboro Coliseum Complex managing director Matt Brown. “We looking forward to bringing a true sense of ‘southern hospitality’ to this event and making the thousands of competitors, their families and spectators feel like they will never want to leave Greensboro."