Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, September 10. USA Swimming, in collaboration with the United States Olympic Committee and the Omaha Sports Commission, today announced the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming will be held Sunday, June 26, through Sunday, July 3, 2016, in Omaha, Nebraska, at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.
The eight-day competition serves as the sole qualifier for the pool swimmers on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 2016 Olympic Trials will conclude 34 days before the opening session of pool competition at the Olympic Games, slated for August 6, 2016. The 2012 Trials finished 26 days in advance of the London Olympic Games, which resulted in 31 medals for Team USA. In 2008, Team USA also had 34 days between Trials and the start of Olympic Games competition in Beijing and came away with 31 medals.
“As the marquee swimming event in the United States, the Olympic Trials have been elevated to the upper echelon of sports events,” USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus said. “Athletes, families, fans, coaches and corporate partners enjoy a tremendous experience with compelling competition in CenturyLink Center Omaha, a wonderfully interactive engagement in the Aqua Zone, welcoming hospitality and the camaraderie of the entire swimming community.”
The 2016 Trials will mark the third consecutive Olympic cycle that the City of Omaha and the Omaha Sports Commission will host the Olympic Trials for swimming. Nebraska’s largest city was granted the bid in April 2013, after successful events as the home of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials. Ticket information will be announced in the near future.
“The City of Omaha and the State of Nebraska are once again looking forward to hosting this incredible event in 2016,” Omaha Sports Commission President Harold Cliff said. “Participants and spectators can be assured that we will be doing our best to create an electric atmosphere, great support services, and most of all, the stage for America’s best swimmers to perform at their highest level.”
For a gallery of images from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials in Omaha, visit USA Swimming’s Facebook page.
Qualifying time standards for the 2016 Olympic Trials will be announced Thursday, September 18, at 2 p.m. EDT, via a live webcast from the United States Aquatic Sports Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. It can be viewed via usaswimming.org/trials.
Two temporary 50-meter pools will be installed by Myrtha Pools in the CenturyLink Center Omaha, the state-of-the-art, 17,000-seat sports and entertainment venue in downtown Omaha. The convention center will once again serve as the home for the award-winning, 100,000-square-foot USA Swimming Aqua Zone, a sponsor and fan experience area.
More than 165,000 fans were in attendance for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming in Omaha. NBC Sports televised the eight days of competition live, and the event earned a nomination in the “Sports Event of the Year” category of the illustrious Sports Business Awards.
Since 2004, USA Swimming has consistently expanded the reach of the Olympic Trials. Attendance numbers have soared, and the Aqua Zone has grown to bring swimming to a wider audience.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for all sports are a collaborative, three-way partnership between the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Governing Bodies and local organizing committees.
The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.
I know I’m crazy for suggesting this but if I ruled the swimming world I would have Trials end on final day entries due ( perhaps is case here no se) and then have team fly straight to Rio.
No training camp no processing no nada. Trials end Sunday hop on plane Monday bright and early and go to Rio and kick you know what!
You have to have training camps to get you ready. Back to back (like trials end on Sunday and hop on a plane) would not really work. I mean it could be you will want a little break before you have to go again. So I do not like your ideal bill….