‘Legacy’ and ‘quality’ subjects of Glasgow 2015 visit

IPC Swimming carried out a site visit to Glasgow, Great Britain, which will play host to the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. 13 May 2014

Matthew Cowdrey at 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships Montreal

ⒸMatthew Clemente

By IPC

“This competition is incredibly important for athletes in the year before Rio 2016 and will give them the chance to qualify directly for the Paralympic Games.

Representatives of IPC Swimming have returned from a positive site visit to Glasgow, Great Britain, for the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships speaking of a ‘high standard’ of planning and ‘long-lasting legacy’.

From 7-9 May, several key figures from the sport met with delegates from British Swimming, Scottish Swimming, UK Sport, Event Scotland and Glasgow Life to discuss preparations for the Championships which will take place at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre and will be the biggest global gathering of para-swimmers in 2015.

Speaking of the significance of Glasgow 2015 and the venue, that will also stage this year’s Commonwealth Games, Agnes Szilak, IPC Swimming Sport Senior Manager said:

“This competition is incredibly important for athletes in the year before Rio 2016 and will give them the chance to qualify directly for the Paralympic Games.

“The venue has two 50m pools and will therefore be a great stage for our athletes to showcase their best performances.

“The organising committee’s professional work will no doubt secure a very high standard competition and leave a long lasting legacy in Scotland.

“We are looking forward to continuing the preparations with British Swimming and all stakeholders involved to ensure we are well prepared for the World Championships. “

In addition to the venue, the group also visited the hotels that will be used for the competition as well as discussing technical details such as entries and accreditation with the organisers.

Head of Sport at Glasgow Life Keith Russell is Chairman of the Stakeholder Group and said: “We are looking forward to working with IPC Swimming to deliver another world class event in Glasgow.

“The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships will be a fantastic opportunity to really focus in on improving the support we already have in place for disability swimming in Glasgow and Scotland and will showcase world class swimmers to a new audience in the City.”

British Swimming Chief Executive Officer David Sparkes said: “British Swimming are looking forward to welcoming the world’s best swimmers back to Glasgow in 2015 and recapturing the excitement and interest in the sport we witnessed in London at the Paralympic Games in 2012.

“We will also look forward to seeing established stars and new names emerge and make their final preparations for Rio in 2016.”

The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships will take place at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, which has been refurbished for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Around 650 athletes from 60 countries are due to gather in Glasgow for the competition, which follows on from the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships taking place in Eindhoven, the Netherlands from 4-10 August and the Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games from 18-24 October.