Dubai: Presidents of the Asia Swimming Federation (AASF) and the Japanese Swimming Federation met in Dubai on Monday to officially sign the agreement for Tokyo to host the next Asian Swimming Championships, scheduled for 2016.
On the sidelines of the ongoing ninth running of the championships at the Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Complex, Shaikh Khalid Badr Al Sabah, President of the Asia Swimming Federation, and Japanese swimming President Dr Kazuo Sano signed the agreement in a ceremony also attended by the Director-General of the AASF, Taha Al Kishri.
Al Sabah said: “We are proud to announce that this major AASF event is going to be held in the beautiful city of Tokyo. I am confident that, with four years of preparation, this championship will be perfectly managed and organised. For that I also assure you that the AASF will do its part to support the organising committee in all aspects of the event.”
Al Sabah also announced that, for the first time in the championships’ history, the event will host five aquatic disciplines, with open water swimming joining the current programme of swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming.
“We are anticipating a big number of participating national federations and athletes taking part in the championships,” he said.
Sano added: “It is a real honour for Japan to be selected to host the 10th Asian Swimming Championships and we look forward to seeing you all in Tokyo.”
With the swimming competition at the championships in Dubai now completed, water polo took centre stage on Monday. In the morning’s first session, Uzbekistan edged past Saudi Arabia 8-4 before China’s superb championships continued with a 26-2 dismantling of Sri Lanka.
