Greensboro To Host 2012 USMS Spring National Championships

September 18, 2010, Sarasota, Fla. – U.S. Masters Swimming, the national governing body for adult competitive and fitness swimming, has awarded its 2012 USMS Spring National Championships to Greensboro, N.C. The Greensboro Sports Commission will host the event, in cooperation with North Carolina Masters Swimming, the Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The four-day competition will take place in the brand new Greensboro Aquatic Center. The swimming will begin on April 26 and conclude on April 29, 2012. More than 2,000 swimmers are expected to participate, including many Olympians.

“While North Carolina has a long tradition of supporting Masters swimming, Greensboro is a new destination for our Nationals,” says U.S. Masters Swimming Executive Director Rob Butcher. “The renderings for the new Greensboro Aquatic Center are spectacular. We know that Masters swimmers will enjoy racing in the new venue.”

“Landing this prestigious event was a true team effort by North Carolina Masters Swimming, the Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greensboro Sports Commission and the Greensboro Coliseum Complex,” says Don Gilchrist, who will serve as the meet’s co-director along with Hill Carrow, who also functions as the USMS liaison to the United States Olympic Committee. “We look forward to this being the beginning of numerous national meets coming to Greensboro on an annual basis.”

The national championship event is the first swim meet booked in the Greensboro Aquatic Center, which is scheduled to open in July 2011. “For Greensboro to be awarded an event like the USMS Spring National Championships for its first ever booking is an incredible achievement,” says Greensboro Coliseum Complex managing director Matt Brown. “Considering that construction is not even completed on the facility, this is an outstanding indicator of just how in demand we expect the Greensboro Aquatic Center will be.”

Greensboro Sports Commission president Kim Strable adds, “Bringing this event to Greensboro only enhances our city’s ‘Tournament Town,’ reputation. Having the USMS Spring Nationals already on our calendar will allow us to attract even more meets in the future.” The Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau projects an estimated economic impact of more than $5.8 million for the four-day meet.

“We looking forward to bringing a true sense of ‘southern hospitality’ to this event and making the thousands of competitors, their families and spectators feel like they will want to return to Greensboro as soon as possible,” says Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau president Henri Fourrier.

Visitors planning to attend the meet can find hotel and local attraction information at visitgreensboro.com.

More coverage for the 2012 Spring Nationals will be made available at usms.org.

Contacts: Mark Gill, (941) 387-4490; email: mark.gill@usms.org
               Andrew Brown, (336) 373-7456; email: andrew.brown@greensboro-nc.gov

About U.S. Masters Swimming 

U.S. Masters Swimming, founded in 1970, is a membership-operated national governing body that promotes adult health, fitness, wellness and competition through aquatics. It does so by partnering with more than 1,000 adult swim programs across the country that offer swim fitness programs, promoting information via the bi-monthly member magazine, SWIMMER; monthly e-newsletter, STREAMLINES, and usms.org; and by sanctioning and promoting pool, open water and virtual competitions. More than 50,000 adults are registered members of U.S. Masters Swimming.

About Greensboro Aquatic Center
Scheduled to open in the summer of 2011, the 78,323-square-foot indoor Greensboro Aquatic Center (GAC) will be a state-of-the-art facility featuring leading edge concepts in aquatic design. This GAC will bring together all major aquatic sports – competitive swimming and diving, water polo, synchronized swimming and other unique sports, all in one venue. The GAC will offer Greensboro the opportunity to host high school and collegiate events, USA Swimming meets, Masters swimming and USA Water Polo events as well as myriad local, regional, national and international competitions.