MELBOURNE, 19 June 2003 — Australia is back in the race to host the 2007 world swimming championships, with Melbourne re-entering the bidding yesterday, just three months after deeming it was too costly to stage the event.
Melbourne was rated favorite to win the championships ahead of Rio de Janeiro and the United Arab Emirates before the state government of Victoria withdrew its bid in March. That decision came two days after the state’s 2006 Commonwealth Games budget blow-out of 350 million dollars (US$235 million) was revealed.
But talks between Australian Swimming and the Victorian Major Events Corporation have paved the way for a change of heart, with a new deal agreed on Wednesday.
It is understood Australian Swimming has offered Victoria what amounts to a more lucrative deal, including national trials in the lead-up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games and other international swimming events. “It will include international events and would take us up until 2008,” Australian Swimming president John Devitt said yesterday.
“But it depends to a large degree on whether or not our bid is successful.”
Devitt said Melbourne’s on-again, off-again interest would not affect the bid, which had been completed before the state government’s initial decision to withdraw in March.
The cost of staging a world championships in Melbourne is estimated to be between 30-40 million dollars ($20-27 million). A final decision on which of the three venues will host the 2007 world championships will be made on July 12 in Barcelona - just before this year’s event.
Australia hosted the world championships in Perth in 1991 and 1998.
