Guam to Host International Swimming Competition
TUMON, Guam, January 6, 2009 - A collection of some of the world's fastest swimmers under the age of 18 will travel to Guam to compete in the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships on January 8 - 12, 2009. The fourteen international swimming federations that comprise the Pan Pacific Charter Nations, who organized the event, along with the federation from Mexico will compete in both pool and open ocean events.
Pool competitions will be held at Leo Palace Resort Guam in their Olympic-sized pool that has been designed for international level competition. Leo Palace Resort Guam is the presenting sponsor of the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. Pool competitions take place from January 8 - 11 with open water competition scheduled for January 12th at Tumon Bay.
Member countries of the Pan Pacific Charter Nations are Australia, Canada, China, the CNMI, Guam, Guatemala, India, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palau, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States. Swimmers from Pan Pacific Charter Nations and Mexico will travel to Guam with their coaching staff to compete in the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championship.
"There will be 15 swimming federations competing in January," said Guam Swimming Federation President Daniel O'Keefe, "This will be the fastest under 18 swim competition in the world. We have been given a really great opportunity to co-host this event with the Japan Swimming Federation."
The Japan Swimming Federation and Guam Swimming Federation are jointly hosting the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championship with support from the Government of Guam in cooperation with the Guam Visitors Bureau. The Japan Swimming Federation has been training for international competitions on Guam for five years at the Leo Palace Resort Guam.
The 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championship is expected to attract international media attention and provide Guam with valuable publicity and promotion as an excellent site for such athletic events. Previous competitors from Pan Pacific swimming competitions include Olympic Gold medal record holder Michael Phelps and other medal winning Olympians like Liesel Jones, Brendan Hansen, Natalie Coughlin, Kosuke Kitajima, and many others. The 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championship will highlight Guam's ability to provide international caliber athletes with state of the art facilities, like the Leo Palace Resort Guam, and a warm weather climate ideal for training.
For more information about the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, including how to register to participate, please visit www.j-panpac2009.org or contact the Guam Swimming Federation at 1-671-649-7267.
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