The official test event at the gigantic new London Aquatics Centre, which was last week’s British Olympic Trials, was so successful that British Swimming decided that they weren’t done having fun in 2012. The governing body for competitive swimming in the UK announced Thursday that they were officially launching a bid to host the 2016 European Swimming Championships.
The bid is to host the pre-Olympic long course championship in 2016. In Olympic years, this event usually falls in the spring (typically May) and serves as a final major tuneup between Olympic qualifying meets and the Games themselves.
Being held in London could significantly step-up the profile of this meet (much as Berlin might in 2014). The event is now going on four straight versions (8 years) being held in more minor cities in the Netherlands and Hungary, and the return to a world-wide capital like London should encourage swimmers to make the journey as opposed to staying at home and training domestically.
The UK hasn’t hosted this meet since 1993 in Sheffield. This is another push after losing the bid to host the 2008 World Short Course Championships.
The venue, which cost an estimated £ 242 million to build ($379 million), currently seats 17,500, but after the Olympics will be reduced to 2,500 seats (which still makes it a very large venue).
The final decision will be made at the LEN Bureau Meeting in Portugal in September.
This year’s event, which runs from May 15th-27th, is being jointly hosted by Debrecen, Hungary and Eindhoven, Netherlands. In 2014, Berlin will be the lone hosts.