Federal Way ready to host NCAA swimming and diving

By CASEY OLSON
Federal Way Mirror Sports editor
March 8, 2012 ? Updated 6:24 PM?

The Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center will be a busy place the next few months, hosting the best men and women collegiate swimmers and divers in the United States, along with divers hoping to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

The world-class pool was chosen to host the 2012 NCAA Division I Men?s Swimming and Diving Championships. The NCAA meet is slated for March 22-24.

Seattle University will serve as the host institution for the 2012 NCAA meet and the school will partner with the Seattle Sports Commission, the city of Federal Way and King County Parks and Recreation to host the event.

?We?re delighted with this opportunity to provide our world-class facility for the nation?s very best collegiate swimmers and divers in 2012,? said King County Executive Dow Constantine. ?When the King County Aquatic Center hosted this same event in 2008, we had excellent attendance and eight national records were set.?

The University of Cal-Berkley won the 2011 NCAA title. The action on all three days of the NCAA Championships will be broadcast on ESPN3.com. The championship round will be broadcasted on tape at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 1, on ESPNU.

The Aquatic Center got a taste of big-time collegiate action recently by hosting the inaugural 2012 Pac-12 Women?s Swimming Championships, along with both the men?s and women?s championships in diving. The four-day competition ran through Feb. 25.

The King County Aquatic Center is obviously no stranger to conducting national and international events. It was constructed to house the swimming and diving portions of the 1990 Goodwill Games and has since been the home to more than 50 competitions annually. The Aquatic Center last hosted the NCAA Men?s National Swimming and Diving Championships in 2008.

A recent economic study conducted for King County measured the financial impact of these events on the region in excess of $7.5 million annually.

The two college meets will also serve as a precursor to the King County Aquatic Center hosting the 2012 United States Olympic Diving Trials this summer.

The Trials will be held June 18-24 and will include more than 100 of the nation?s best divers with spots on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team on the line. The Trials will include men?s and women?s individual events in 3- and 10-meter competitions, plus men?s and women?s synchronized events at both heights.

Federal Way, which also held the diving trials in 2000, was selected by USA Diving, in conjunction with the United States Olympic Committee, over Indianapolis.

NBC owns broadcast rights for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials giving this event and the Puget Sound region national media exposure.

?As a region, we are thrilled to participate in the Olympic movement as our athletes prepare for London,? said Ralph Morton, Executive Director for the Seattle Sports Commission, who is acting as the host for both the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials.

Contact Federal Way Mirror Sports editor Casey Olson at sports@fedwaymirror.com or (253) 925-5565 ext. 5056.

Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/fwmall/~3/GPQaZJXOYi4/142004413.html

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