2013 PAN AMERICAN MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP

2013 PAN AMERICAN MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP

United States Masters Swimming in partnership with our host Sarasota YMCA, is pleased to host the 2013 Pan American Masters Championship. The disciplines of Masters synchronized swimming, Masters swimming, and a 1K and 3K open water events will be offered at the Sarasota YMCA. The discipline of Masters Water Polo will be offered June 21-23 at the Orlando Aquatic Center under the direction of USA Water Polo. The event schedule is:

June 1 – 4: Synchronized swimming
June 5 – 12: Masters swimming
June 13: 1K and 3K open water
June 21 – 23: Masters Water Polo (to be hosted at the Orlando Aquatic Center)

Registration for synchronized swimming, Masters swimming and open water closed April 30, 2013 with the following registration numbers:

145 participants for Masters synchronized swimming
1,552 participants for Masters swimming and open water
51% of the entries are from the USA / 49% outside of the USA
24 countries have entries including Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru, Canada, Chile, Russia, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Ukraine, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Cayman Islands, Rwanda, Switzerland, Uruguay, Netherlands, Honduras, Kazakhstan, and Nicaragua
1,648 hotel / condo room nights have been reserved

It is important to note, there were no qualifying times for the swimming or open water portion thus encouraging participation, fun and the spirit of inclusiveness.

In preparation of hosting the Championship, $700,000 was invested into the Sarasota YMCA aquatic facility to expand grandstand seating to 1,000, expand/update the locker rooms, add a Colorado Timing board, add Myrtha track start blocks to each end, add new lane lines, and new gutters. The competition will be hosted in a Myrtha 50-meter pool with 10 lanes of warm up/warm down. As a service to our international friends, Linda Gould, a retired military officer from the US State Department, was retained as our visa coordinator. Linda is fluent in Spanish and English and provided assistance to hundreds of requests.

All the Masters swimming action will be live stream broadcast via the Internet. The www.panamericanmasters2013.org website is where it can be watched and event results will be posted.

The UANA Masters Committee Chair has visited Sarasota several times to meet with the event organizers and receive updates. The community looks forward to welcoming the participants. We are prepared and confident a wonderful experience will be provided to all.