The Philippines is set to host another prestigious world-class sporting event after the success of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
The Asian Swimming Federation (ASF) anointed the country as the venue of the 11th Asian Swimming Championships (ASC) which will be held from November 7 to November 17, 2020, at the New Clark City Aquatics Center.
Taha Bin Silaiman Al Kishry, secretary-general of the Asian Swimming Federation said the Philippines was chosen due to the New Clark City’s facilities, the first sports facility in the country to receive a Class 1 certification from international athletics governing body World Athletics IAAF and meets the standards of the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), the international governing body of swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, and open water swimming.
The Asian Swimming Championships is held every four years with the last edition of the championships hosted by Tokyo, Japan in 2016.
The ASC next year would feature five disciplines: swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, and open water swimming.
About 1,500 athletes and officials are expected to come to the country for the championships with top-caliber swimmers from Japan, China, and Korea participating in the competition.
Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) chief Vince Dizon said this would be the first time the country would be hosting the ASC, a major quadrennial event in which athletes from over 50 countries compete.
“This is a very important milestone because it shows that when you have a world-class facility, people from all over the region, all over the world, take notice,” said Dizon.
The championships would be spearheaded by the Philippine Swimming Inc., in collaboration with the BCDA and the Philippine Sports Commission.
The Aquatics Center witnessed the historic gold medal win by the Philippine team’s James Deiparine who executed double-10-feats at the 2019 SEA Games swimming events: ending the Philippines’ 10-year gold medal drought in the SEA Games while erasing a 10-year SEA Games record.
The Olympic Council of Asia has also expressed its appreciation for the host nation’s new sports facilities and encouraged the Philippines to bid for the hosting of the 2030 Asian Games.
The Aquatics Center will also be the venue for the swimming competitions of the 10th ASEAN Para Games scheduled for January 18 – 24, 2020, after the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, where Asian Para Games triple Gold medalist para swimmer Ernie Gawilan will compete under the Philippine flag together with the national para-athletes.
SEND congratulations to the Philippines for its Class A sports facilities now earning international recognition!
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