Does anyone know when or precisely where the Masters World Championships will be in 2004? I understand that Italy won the bid, but I'm wondering when the meet will be held compared to the Indy and Georgia National meets that year. Thanks.
Regarding accomodations, I ended up finding an apartment rental service in Riccione, who was able to secure me a two bedroom, two bath apartment within one km of the pool for ~610 Euro for the 10 days. We're going to be there for the full time, using Riccione as a home base and then taking day trips on days we aren't swimming. I don't have prior experience with the rental agency, but I have been pleased with their assistance and communication thus far. If anyone is interested in going the apartment-rental route, I used the Perazzini travel agency at www.perazzini.it/default_en.asp.
Incidentally, I found them and other helpful information about the area at the local tourism board's web site, which is at www.turismo.provincia.rimini.it/.../.
One other thing to chime in on is on wiring the money, vs. using a credit card. It looks like the organizers want the entry fee wired to them, and let me tell you, it is a bit of a pain (I had to look into wiring money overseas in order to pay the deposit on the apartment rental). Basically, you need to have a large bank do it for you -- my regular 'bank' is a credit union and they weren't up to the task. And, the fee is somewhere in the $25-$30 neighborhood to send an overseas wire. I ended up setting up a new bank account just to get this done.
P.S. The "we" that will be travelling to Italy is me, a non-swimmer, and my 85 year old grandfather, who is the swimmer. I'm his personal valet for the journey, if you will. He totally kicks butt, and is looking forward to his first international swimming competition.
Regarding accomodations, I ended up finding an apartment rental service in Riccione, who was able to secure me a two bedroom, two bath apartment within one km of the pool for ~610 Euro for the 10 days. We're going to be there for the full time, using Riccione as a home base and then taking day trips on days we aren't swimming. I don't have prior experience with the rental agency, but I have been pleased with their assistance and communication thus far. If anyone is interested in going the apartment-rental route, I used the Perazzini travel agency at www.perazzini.it/default_en.asp.
Incidentally, I found them and other helpful information about the area at the local tourism board's web site, which is at www.turismo.provincia.rimini.it/.../.
One other thing to chime in on is on wiring the money, vs. using a credit card. It looks like the organizers want the entry fee wired to them, and let me tell you, it is a bit of a pain (I had to look into wiring money overseas in order to pay the deposit on the apartment rental). Basically, you need to have a large bank do it for you -- my regular 'bank' is a credit union and they weren't up to the task. And, the fee is somewhere in the $25-$30 neighborhood to send an overseas wire. I ended up setting up a new bank account just to get this done.
P.S. The "we" that will be travelling to Italy is me, a non-swimmer, and my 85 year old grandfather, who is the swimmer. I'm his personal valet for the journey, if you will. He totally kicks butt, and is looking forward to his first international swimming competition.
