Guadalajara is out ...
According to several news reports coming out of Mexico, the Mexican Swimming Federation has pulled out of hosting the 2017 World Aquatic Championships in Guadalajara from July 15-30, 2017.
But hosting it in the US is apparently impossible ...
USA Swimming’s Executive Director, Chuck Wielgus, expressed ... "We would love to host a long course world championships in the United States, but the economic requirements make it impossible for us to seriously consider." ... The estimated $80 million price tag ... is certainly the event's biggest detraction.Wow, $80 million?
With only a little over two years to go, it'll be interesting to see what happens. Will some oil-rich petroeconomy like Qatar pick up the tab? Or will FINA blink first, and cut back on the (apparently exceedingly lavish) requirements?
In any case, if you were thinking about going to Guadalajara ... nope. Hopefully it'll be moved to somewhere accessible (i.e. not Kazan again).
The qualifying times are pretty generous. I'm not sure how they compare to the last time they were in Europe, but I know in Italy, the days were absurdly long and a large percentage of the swimmers didn't make the cutoff times. If memory serves me, there were around 9-10,000 swimmers in Italy. I'm planning on Budapest but I hope it's not a bust
The qualifying times are pretty generous. I'm not sure how they compare to the last time they were in Europe, but I know in Italy, the days were absurdly long and a large percentage of the swimmers didn't make the cutoff times. If memory serves me, there were around 9-10,000 swimmers in Italy. I'm planning on Budapest but I hope it's not a bust
