Swimming Australia plans to lure Phelps for Thorpe showdown
April 3rd, 2011 - 12:26 pm ICT by ANI
Canberra, Apr 3 (ANI): Swimming Australia, the country’s governing body for competitive swimming, has revealed its plan to lure American Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps to Sydney next year to compete with national hero Ian Thorpe.
The organization is keen to stage a competition between the two biggest swimming champions to build upon the success of the inaugural Summer Swim Series.
The chief executive of Swimming Australia, Kevin Neil, said his organization had tried to entice Phelps, who has won 14 Olympic gold medals, to January’s open-air series.
‘We tried to attract Phelps here last year for the Summer Swim Series and while he showed initial interest we were unable to get him on the plane because of a timing issue,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Niel, as saying.
Neil said Swimming Australia was locking in a sponsor for next January’s Summer Swim Series event. He said it was his aim to build upon the corporate and public interest in the sport.
‘The coaches have told me we’re planning to get Phelps here at an intense time of his Olympic preparation it’d be eight months before London but we’ll certainly be trying hard,’ he said. (ANI)
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