SPORTS—Long Beach Eyes Potential Windfall With Swim Meets

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The city of Long Beach is in hot pursuit of a pair of world-class swim meets that together could generate an estimated $75 million in economic activity for the region and serve as a showcase for Los Angeles’ bid to host an unprecedented third Olympic Games in 2012.

Richard Foster, a member of the Long Beach Organizing Committee, said the organization, with assistance from the Los Angeles Sports Council, has submitted a proposal to bring the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming to the community in the summer of 2004.

The trials will determine which athletes will represent the United States at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

Long Beach which is competing against Chapel Hill, N.C.; Indianapolis; San Antonio; Washington, D.C.; and Mesa, Ariz. expects to find out in September if the city has been tapped to host the trials.

If the bid is successful, the region could receive a $25 million windfall, as tourists and athletes stay in area hotels and eat in area restaurants, according to David Simon, president of the Los Angeles Sports Council.

Long Beach is also one of four cities competing to host the FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur, based in Lausanne, Switzerland) World Aquatic Championships in 2005. The event consists of the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo championships.

The city is in competition with Montreal, Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro to host the event. The host city will be named in July.

“It’s a pretty big event,” Foster said of the FINA event. “The economic impact could be worth up to $50 million, as hotels and restaurants will be busy during the two-week event.”

A key component to the city’s bid for the Olympic Trials is the construction of a downtown aquatic compound inside the Long Beach Arena and the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. The same facility would be used for the FINA competition.

“We will construct a main pool inside the arena, seating approximately 7,500 spectators, and a warm-up pool in the exhibit hall,” said Foster. “The pools will be certified temporary pools that can be constructed in less than a week.”

Long Beach has a strong history in both swimming and the Olympics, having hosted the men’s U.S. Olympic swimming trials in 1968 and the men’s and women’s trials in 1976. The city also has played host to portions of two Olympic Games, first in 1932 and then in 1984.

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