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U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming Will Return to Omaha in 2016

Monday, April 29th, 2013

USA Swimming, in collaboration with the United States Olympic Committee, announced Saturday that Omaha, Neb., has been selected as the host city for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming.

The 2016 Olympic Trials ranks as the biggest swimming event in the country and will select the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Team, which will represent Team USA in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The competition will take place at the CenturyLink Center Omaha and that dates will soon become available on www.usaswimming.org/trials.

For the first time, the host city selection was announced via a live webcast from the USA Swimming Board of Directors Meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo. The USA Swimming Board approved the selection of Omaha as host city today prior to the live announcement.

“We are thrilled to bring Olympic Trials back to Omaha in 2016,” said Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming executive director. “The Olympic Trials is a spectacular event, offering a great experience for our athletes, fans, families and coaches. Trials is our sport’s signature event and in announcing Omaha as the 2016 host city today, we are lighting the fuse for literally hundreds of thousands of young swimmers who will be setting their sights on qualifying to participate in the greatest swimming event in the country.”

The 2016 bid city evaluation period opened in January 2013 and included site visits to six finalist locations. An internal evaluation team from USA Swimming, along with a member of the USA Swimming board, visited each location and selected finalists from the group. Three finalist cities were announced at the end of March and included Omaha, Nebraska, St. Louis, Missouri and San Antonio, Texas.

In addition to reviewing the bids and making site visits, this team asked follow-up questions of each city and evaluated all information and responses before ultimately making a recommendation to Wielgus, the USA Swimming Board of Directors and the USOC.

“On behalf of the Omaha Sports Commission, the citizens and corporations of Omaha, I wish to thank USA Swimming and the USOC for having the confidence in our abilities to deliver the goods for a third consecutive Trials,” said Harold Cliff, president of the Omaha Sports Commission. We are ecstatic for the opportunity to host the world’s best swimmers in their quest to represent Team USA in Rio 2016.”

Two temporary 50-meter pools for Trials will be installed by Myrtha Pools in the CentruryLink Center Omaha, the state-of-the-art, 17,000-seat sports and entertainment venue in downtown Omaha. The convention center will once again serve as the home for the award-winning, 100,000 square-foot USA Swimming Aqua Zone, a sponsor and fan experience area.

USA Swimming is coming off a year in which it saw its most successful Trials event in history. The 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, held in Omaha, Neb., saw over 164,000 fans in attendance and the eight days of competition were broadcast LIVE on NBC television every night.

The 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming was also nominated in the category of “Sports Event of the Year” for the illustrious Sports Business Awards. Olympic Trials is in the company of three other major sporting events, including the Ryder Cup, the Stanley Cup Finals and the United States Grand Prix. The winner will be announced next month.

Since 2004, USA Swimming has consistently expanded the reach of the Olympic Trials. Attendance numbers have soared; and the Aqua Zone, a fan and sponsor experience area, has grown to bring swimming to a wider audience.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for all sports is a collaborative, three-way partnership between the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Governing Bodies and the local organizing committee

Posted in Century Link Center, Events, Olympic Swim Trials, Omaha Sports Commission, Swimming, USA Swimming | No Comments »

Visit Omaha NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

USA Volleyball announced today that the Omaha Sports Commission has been selected to host the 2013 Visit Omaha NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship held Sept. 16-21. The Omaha Convention and Visitor’s Bureau will serve as the title sponsor and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Inc. (PTI) will be presenting sponsor for the event, which will be held at the Ralston Arena.

Posted in Calendar Event, Ralston Arena, USA Volleyball, Visit Omaha Women's NORCECA Continental Championships, Volleyball | No Comments »

Omaha Set to Host 2013 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

USA Volleyball announced today that the Omaha Sports Commission has been selected to host the 2013 Visit Omaha NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship held Sept. 16-21. The Omaha Convention and Visitor’s Bureau will serve as the title sponsor and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Inc. (PTI) will be presenting sponsor for the event, which will be held at the Ralston Arena.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to compete in Omaha for the NORCECA Zone Championship,” U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly said. “I got to witness one of the most electric nights of volleyball ever in Omaha during the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship of 2008, and we look forward to this chance to play on American soil in front of many of the same passionate, knowledgeable fans. Go USA!”

The event, which will be played at Ralston Arena, is expected to bring up to 10 teams from the North America, Central America and Caribbean region. Among the top women’s teams in NORCECA are the United States (#1 FIVB, #1 NORCECA), Dominican Republic (#10, #2), Cuba (#13, #3), Puerto Rico (#18, #4), Canada (#22, #5) and Mexico (#25, #6).

The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team, ranked No. 1 in the current International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) world ranking, has won two consecutive Olympic Games silver medals in 2008 and 2012.

The 2013 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship gold-medal team qualifies for the 2013 FIVB Grand Champions Cup to be played Nov. 12-17 in Japan. The NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship is held every other year. Team USA is the defending champion after winning the event in 2011 at Caguas, Puerto Rico, without dropping a set in five matches.

“We are very excited that Omaha has agreed to host the NORCECA Championship,” said Tom Pingel, USA Volleyball senior director of indoor events and High Performance. “Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa have a rich tradition of supporting volleyball events in the past and I’m sure that it won’t be any different for this inaugural international volleyball tournament. We hope this will be the first of many international tournaments in the Omaha area.”

“Nebraska has one of the most passionate volleyball fan bases in the country, and we are thrilled to bring international competition to the Omaha area,” said Harold Cliff, president of the Omaha Sports Commission. “The Visit Omaha NORCECA championship will feature some of the greatest volleyball teams in the world and we expect exciting action to take place every day.”

“Bringing the U.S. Olympic medal winning team to Omaha, especially UNL alum Jordan Larson, is a tremendous achievement for the Omaha Sports Commission,” said Lisa Roskens, chair of the Omaha Sports Commission Board. “We are proud to be the host city for this major international event and the Visit Omaha NORCECA Championship will once again reinforce Omaha’s reputation as a great sports town.”

“The Visit Omaha NORCECA Championship is a great way to showcase Omaha and build upon the city’s growing reputation as a destination that knows how to host successful events,” said Dana Markel, executive director of the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team has a handful of players from the Omaha area. During the 2011 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship, University of Nebraska alumni Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) and Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) helped the U.S. secure the gold. Larson went on to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games. Metcalf is a 2004 U.S. Olympian. Both Larson and Metcalf are from towns near Omaha – Larson from Hooper, Neb., and Metcalf from Hull, Iowa. Further, University of Nebraska product Kayla Banwarth (Dubuque, Iowa) helped the U.S. secure gold at the 2012 Pan American Cup and bronze at the 2011 Pan American Games.

The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team has had rare opportunities to host major international competitions on American soil due to international scheduling and professional league commitments.  During the last Olympic quadrennial, the U.S. Women hosted its first-ever Pan American Cup held in Miami in 2009, followed two days later with the four-team FIVB World Championship Qualification Tournament for NORCECA in Orlando. Team USA also hosted Bulgaria a three-match challenge series in July 2012 in final preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games.

From 2005 to 2008, the U.S. Women played only seven contests against foreign teams in front of a home crowd. The only other women’s senior-level international tournament hosted in the United States was the 1998 FIVB World Championship Qualification Tournament for NORCECA.

Omaha has a long history of supporting both amateur and professional sporting championship events. In addition to serving as host city for the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championships in 2006 and 2008, the NCAA Divison I Men’s College World Series is annually held in Omaha. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming returned to Omaha in 2012 after hosting the event in 2008. The Prudential 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was held in Omaha in January.

Cliff said the Ralston Arena, which opened in October, 2012 and seats approximately 4,000 is a perfect venue for the NORCECA Championship, ensuring every fan is close to the action on the court.

Only all session ticket packages will initially be sold, providing tickets to all six days of competition. All session tickets can be purchased starting April 15 at the Ralston Arena box office, online at www.homepridetix.com or via phone at 800-440-3741. Ticket prices are $140 and $110.

Posted in Omaha Sports Commission, Ralston Arena, USA Volleyball, Visit Omaha Women's NORCECA Continental Championships, Volleyball | No Comments »

MORE THAN A QUARTER MILLION PEOPLE ATTEND RECENT OMAHA SPORTS COMMISSION EVENTS

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

The three major sports events hosted by the Omaha Sports Commission (OSC) over the past eight months are paying dividends to the city and state. Omaha Sports Commission President Harold Cliff said the three events – the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming, 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships and Mutual of Omaha’s Battles on Ice – provided unique sporting opportunities while showcasing Omaha on the national stage.

“Attendance for these three events totaled 271,368 and generated a combined estimated economic impact of more than $50 million,” Cliff said. “Just as important was the national exposure the events provided Omaha and the State of Nebraska. The Olympic Swim Trials and U.S. Figure Skating Championships had 16 hours of live or taped coverage on NBC, while dozens of national newspapers carried stories.”

  • The Olympic Swim Trials, held June 25 to July 2, 2012, drew 167,048 fans and generated an estimated economic impact of more than $30 million. NBC broadcast the Trials live for eight straight nights, while a national cable channel aired coverage during the day. More than 250 media were credentialed for the Trials.
  • The U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held January 20 to 27, 2013, drew 90,760 fans and generated an estimated economic impact of nearly $20 million. NBC aired eight hours of live or tape-delayed coverage of the weekend championships. More than 120 media were credentialed for the championships.
  • Mutual of Omaha’s Battles on Ice on February 9, 2013, drew 13,560 fans and had several million dollars of estimated impact as large number of North Dakota and Lincoln fans attended the event. It was the first USHL hockey game ever played outdoors, and one of the only outdoor college hockey games played this season.

Omaha Sports Commission Board Chair Lisa Roskens said OSC has more events planned for 2013.

“We are very proud of the significant contributions these three events have made to our community and state, and our efforts will continue,” Roskens said. “Later this month we’ll host the Short Track Speedskating Championships and our goal is to provide people a wide variety of sports championships throughout the year.”

Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority President and CEO Roger Dixon said Omaha has become known as one of America’s great amateur sports communities.

“It all started with the NCAA Men’s College World Series, but in the past 10 years we have taken sports championships to a new level,” Dixon said. The results once again demonstrate the wisdom of community leaders and the public to build CenturyLink Center Omaha, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, and create the Omaha Sports Commission. We have the organization and facilities to compete on a national scale for major sporting championships.”

Robert Watson, general manager of Hilton Omaha, and Joe Gudenrath, executive director of the Downtown Improvement District, said OSC events were a tremendous boost to the local economy, especially downtown businesses.

“Hilton Omaha experienced outstanding business from Omaha Sports Commission events, as have many other area hotels,” Watson said. “The two events in 2013 were held during a traditionally slow time for our industry, so the activity was greatly appreciated.”

“Restaurants, retail stores and attractions benefitted from OSC events the past eight months,” Gudenrath said. “Few cities in the country can attract thousands of fans to sports such as swimming and figure skating, but people consistently support these events.”

Posted in Century Link Center, Figure Skating, Hockey, Mutual of Omaha, Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice, Olympic Swim Trials, Omaha Lancers, Omaha Sports Commission, Swimming, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, U.S. Figure Skating, U.S. Figure Skating Championships, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA Swimming | No Comments »

OUTDOOR HOCKEY RINK NEARING COMPLETION FOR MUTUAL OF OMAHA BATTLES ON ICE

Monday, February 4th, 2013

Construction crews are completing work on the outdoor hockey rink at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha as preparations continue for the February 9 Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice. The historic outdoor double header will feature the Omaha Lancers facing off against the Lincoln Stars at noon, followed by the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks taking on North Dakota.

The Omaha Sports Commission is hosting the hockey matches and President Harold Cliff said thousands of fans have already purchased tickets.

“We’ve been very pleased with ticket response and expect a great crowd for the two match ups,” Cliff said. “Ticket interest has been strong in Omaha as well as from hockey fans in Lincoln, North Dakota and throughout the region. Outdoor hockey creates a unique atmosphere and we encourage fans to come for the action, especially since one ticket provides access to both games.”

Cliff said plans are in place to ensure that fans can take breaks from the cold weather during the two games.

  • Fans will be able to exit and re-enter the stadium once during the afternoon.
  • Main concourse restrooms and concession stands have been de-winterized and will be open during the games.
  • The Jack Diesing room near the main stadium entrance will be open for fans to warm up during the day.
  • Fans purchasing tickets in the club section will have access to second floor indoor restrooms, lounges and concession areas.

Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority President and CEO Roger Dixon said February 9 will be busy on the MECA grounds with four events taking place throughout the day.

“Saturday the 9th will once again demonstrate the versatility of MECA facilities as activities take place in the stadium, arena and convention center,” Dixon said. “In addition to the Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice, the Home & Garden show will be taking place in the convention center. That evening Creighton will have a home basketball game while a local Dancing with the Stars competition will be under way in the convention center. We encourage people to plan ahead and take advantage of the many parking options throughout the downtown area.”

Dixon said the hockey double-header should be over by 6 p.m., freeing more parking for evening events.

  • Hockey and Home & Garden Show parking on MECA property will be in Lot D across from the stadium. The lot will open at 9 a.m. and tailgating will be allowed for hockey fans before the game.
  • Parking Lot B will be available for Creighton season ticket holders. It is anticipated most of Lot D will also be available to Creighton fans by early evening as well.
  • There are approximately 5,000 parking stalls available in the downtown corridor north and south of MECA facilities.
  • Metro will operate special downtown bus service to MECA facilities. Bus service in the downtown area will cost a quarter and buses will be running every 10 minutes from different downtown locations.

Omaha Lancer owner Ben Robert said Cox Communications plans to televise the Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice for fans that can’t make it to the double header. But he encouraged area residents to experience the thrill of outdoor hockey.

“In every city where outdoor hockey games have been played, fans have raved about the excitement created in a stadium atmosphere,” Robert said. “Battles on Ice offers fans two games featuring fierce rivals. The coaches and players can’t wait for the puck to drop and the action to start.”

UNO Associate Athletic Director Mike Kemp said players on all four teams can’t wait for the chance to play a season game outside.

“Many of the players on all four teams grew up playing outdoor hockey and the chance to play before a large crowd at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha will be a great experience,” Kemp said. “The two games will be very competitive and it will be some of the best hockey action fans will see this year.”

Posted in Events, Hockey, Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice, Omaha Lancers, Omaha Sports Commission, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, University of Nebraska at Omaha | No Comments »

NSAA State Wrestling Championship

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

Nebraska’s best high school wrestlers will compete for individual and team crowns, during the 2014 Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) State Wrestling Championship. Wrestlers take the mats February 19-22 at CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Posted in Calendar Event, Century Link Center, NSAA, NSAA State Wrestling Championships, Wrestling | No Comments »

2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships Single-Session Tickets on Sale Now

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

U.S. Figure Skating and the Omaha Sports Commission announced today that single-session tickets for 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be available at 10 a.m. (CT) Wednesday, Sept. 19. Starting at $13 per session, tickets will be available by visiting www.2013uschampionships.com or www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 800.745.3000.

The U.S. Championships is set for Jan. 20-27, 2013. Competition and practice will be held at the CenturyLink Center Omaha Convention Center and Arena. The event will also feature a FanFest area in the Convention Center that will include exhibits, a sheet of ice, autograph sessions and more. The FanFest is free and open to the public.

All-Event and Championship Weekend ticket packages are available.

“We are only four months away from the start of the next big sporting event for Omaha, the 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships,” Omaha Sports Commission President Harold Cliff said. “Excitement is building for this unique event, which features world-class skaters combining athletic skills with artistic grace. There are great seats available for this one-of-a-kind sporting event.”

NBC will air seven hours of live coverage from the U.S. Championships and two additional hours of the Smucker’s Skating Spectacular, an exhibition featuring the top finishers in each level and discipline. Icenetwork.com will broadcast live and on-demand coverage to Season Pass subscribers.

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held annually since 1914, is the nation’s most prestigious figure skating event, crowning champions in ladies, men’s, pairs and ice dancing in each of the senior, junior and novice divisions. In addition to determining the U.S. champions, the event serves as the final step in determining the U.S. teams for the World Figure Skating Championships, World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and Olympic Winter Games.

Omaha also hosted the U.S. Championships in 1967.

Click here for a list of start times for the 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships (PDF)

Posted in Century Link Center, Figure Skating, U.S. Figure Skating, U.S. Figure Skating Championships | No Comments »

2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Nominated for a SportsTravel Award

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Omaha is pleased to announce that the 2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament have been nominated by the readers of SportsTravel magazine for the 2012 Sports Travel Award. Events are nominated by the readers of SportsTravel, the sports world’s event magazine. Criteria for nomination and voting include superior organization of and attendance at the events, a superior experience for the competitors and/or spectators at the events, and how the site or venue served to enhance the events. Final balloting is open through August 15, 2012. Winners will be announced at the TEAMS ’12 Conference & Expo, October 1-4, 2012, in Detroit.

Official ballots are available in the July and August issues of SportsTravel magazine. Readers may also find more information and vote online at http://www.SportsTravelMagazine.com. The ballot includes nominees in amateur, collegiate and professional categories. Awards in those three categories will be given for best single-sport event, best multi-sport or multi-discipline event, and best sports event series or circuit. Voters will also pick the best new sports event and an overall Sports Event of the Year from among the nominated events.

The TEAMS ’12 Conference and Expo is the world’s largest annual gathering for the sports event and sports-related travel industry. For further information or to register, visit http://www.TEAMSconference.com.

TEAMS and SportsTravel are owned by Schneider Publishing, the Los Angeles-based company that also publishes Association News magazine. The group travel markets served by Schneider Publishing generate 106 million room nights annually. For further information, please call toll-free (877) 577-3700.

Posted in Century Link Center, Olympic Swim Trials, Omaha Sports Commission, Swimming, USA Swimming | No Comments »

Omaha may be latest to warm to ice skating

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

By Steven Pivovar
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

U.S. Figure Skating Championships

• When: Jan. 19 through 27, 2013
• Where: Century Link Center
• TV: NBC

Bob Dunlop knows Omaha hardly is considered a hotbed of figure skating.

Neither was Spokane, Wash., nor Greensboro, N.C., before U.S. Figure Skating brought its championship event to those cities the past two years. Given the way those cities embraced the event, Dunlop figures he’ll see the same kind of reaction when the championships are held in Omaha in 2013.

“When we took the event to Greensboro, they were really excited about hosting it because it was something new and different,” said Dunlop, senior director of events for U.S. Figure Skating. “It was something outside of the norm that they see every day.

“They really got engaged by it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened here.”

Dunlop spent the past two days in Omaha, laying the groundwork for the event that will come to the city from Jan. 19 through 27, 2013. He met with officials from the Omaha Sports Commission, which helped land the championships.

He toured Century Link Center, where about 250 of the country’s elite skaters will compete for spots on the U.S. national championship team, and the adjacent Hilton Hotel, where many of them will stay.

That set-up — the hotel is connected to the arena by an enclosed skybridge — will be particularly appealing, Dunlop said.

“I would argue that it will be one of the best layouts in terms of what the starting point looks like,” Dunlop said. “There’s a lot of tweaking here and there to make the full plan of the event run but it really is one of the best layouts.

“The ability to have the hotel connected to both rinks makes weather a non-issue.”

Dunlop said the size of Omaha’s arena and convention center will allow U.S. Figure Skating to expand the championships to include its youngest competitors in the juvenile and intermediate groups. The older skaters will compete in the arena, with two additional sheets of ice in the convention center — one for practice and the other for the younger skaters’ competitions.

“We’ll have a bigger contingent coming in ’13 than we’ve ever had,” he said. “It’s good for us to bring them all to one city and it will add to the impact of the event, as the younger group will come with families.”

The economic impact of the event already is sizeable. Dunlop said Greensboro recently completed a study that gauged the 2011 championships had a direct economic impact of $27 million, with an additional $24 million of media impact. The championships will be broadcast by NBC.

The 2012 championships will be held in San Jose, Calif., another nontraditional site in terms of figure skating.

“Where we’ve had our most success in running championships have been in nontraditional communities for figure skating,” Dunlop said. “People are excited to see something new. We hit home runs in Spokane and Greensboro, and people were saying the same thing in those cities that they’re saying here.

“Why Spokane? Why Grensboro? Why Omaha? We could go to bigger cities but you get lost when you go to bigger markets. Not every city is right for this event. I think Omaha is right for this event.”

The city’s ability to stage major sporting events such as the College World Series annually and the U.S. Swim Trials in 2008 was also noted by Dunlop. The Swim Trials will return to Omaha in 2012.

“Omaha has amazing facilities that fit our needs especially well,” he said. “And what Omaha has done in recent years, with an event like the swimming trials, was noticed by us and others.”

Tickets for the championships won’t go on sale until early next year, but when they do, Dunlop anticipates interest in obtaining them will be high.

“Knowing what I know about Omaha now and particularly the success the city has had in the ability to draw fans, I think it will be,” he said. “Our athletes will be at their prime, and it will provide people with the opportunity to come out and see some fantastic skating.”

Posted in Century Link Center, Figure Skating, Omaha World Herald, U.S. Figure Skating, U.S. Figure Skating Championships | No Comments »

Tickets Available June 25 for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials –Swimming

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

The public will have a chance to purchase tickets to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Swimming beginning at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 25. Tickets will be available at the Qwest Center Omaha box office or ticketmaster.com. In recognition of Visas long-standing support of USA Swimming, the organization is proud to accept VISA exclusively.

Mike Unger, assistant executive director for USA Swimming, said the 2012 Trials promises to be the most competitive swimming competition ever held in the United States.

“More than 1,200 swimmers are expected to compete in Omaha, but the U.S. Olympic Team traveling to London will consist of just 50 swimmers,” Unger said.  “We would not be surprised to see a number of American and perhaps world records established in Omaha. The greatest names in our sport – Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Jason Lezak, Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni and many more are anxious to show the world the strength of the 2012 U.S. Team.”

Harold Cliff, president of the Omaha Sports Commission , said a record 160,000 people attended the 2008 Trials in Omaha, and he expects ticket demand to be much higher in 2012.

“ For many of the Omaha locals, the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials were their first exposure to a swim meet so we had to educate people on what a swimming event was about, but once people saw the action they were hooked,” Cliff said.  “We strongly urge people to buy all-session tickets early so they can see all the action and witness these American stars as the vie to make Team USA…  .”

Currently, only all-session tickets will be available for purchase. These tickets guarantee a person the same seat for seven morning preliminary sessions and eight evening finals. Ticket prices are $525, $425 or $325 for the 15 sessions.  Tickets can be shared with family, friends or co-workers.

New this year, a limited number of “VIP” all session tickets are available for $1,000, This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will give 140 fans the chance to sit directly on the pool deck, with the closest view of the greatest swimmers in America.

Olympic gold medalists Aaron Peirsol and Rowdy Gaines attended the press announcement and were on hand to talk about their Olympic experiences. Peirsol swam in three Olympics and won a total of seven medals (five gold, two silver).  He currently holds three world records. Gaines won three gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and was elected to the U.S. Swimming Hall of Fame. He is a television commentator and is expected to be part of the NBC announcing team at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha and at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Hotel reservations can also be made starting at 12:00 pm CST on Saturday, June 25th via www.usaswimhousing.com.

Posted in Olympic Swim Trials, Omaha Sports Commission, Qwest Center, Swimming, USA Swimming | No Comments »

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