The London Aquatics Centre is preparing to host an open international competition that will attract swimmers from all corners of the globe.
The highly anticipated AP Race London International, championed by triple Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty, is scheduled to take place during the upcoming May Bank Holiday weekend.
The event will feature a star-studded line-up of swimmers, from Olympic champions to grassroots finalists, in what promises to be an exciting experience for athletes and spectators.
Organisers will offer a prize pool of £10,000 for first place to £750 for fifth place and expect to draw international and domestic athletes to compete at one of the world's most renowned aquatic centres, based in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The event is the brainchild of Peaty and AP Race co-founder Ed Baxter, along with experienced Aquatics Event Producer John Bailey, and is supported by British Swimming and World Aquatics.
The competition will showcase the world's best swimming talent and local rising stars from clubs in Newham, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets, the four boroughs surrounding the Park, will also be involved.
Lyn Garner, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming back international competition and some of the world’s best swimmers to the London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with the AP Race London International series.
“More than a decade since the London 2012 Games, the venue continues to attract world-class events and athletes as well as helping forge links with local clubs and communities around the Park.”
The AP Race London International marks the first open international swimming event of its kind since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the first time since its construction in 2011 that the iconic venue, operated by charitable enterprise Better, will host an open international swimming event.
Although Peaty will not be eligible to claim any of the top FINA points prize money, the eight-time world champion is excited by the event as well as launching the AP Race Inclusivity Series to coincide with the International.
"I am so excited that AP Race will be launching our Inclusivity Series in partnership with London Aquatics Centre," he said.
“We've worked so well together over the last 12 months and this series summarises our vision for how we should be supporting the next generation of athletes.
“It is so important that in sport and in life we all feel supported, represented and included in every sense. This is an area I've always been passionate about. I came from a working class background so to launch this series to provide an opportunity for economically challenged swimmers is so important to me.
“It is going to be so exciting for the first instalment of this series to kick off in May and I have full confidence Michael and the team are going to deliver something incredibly special for the swimmers, coaches and parents involved.”
Keith Griffiths, general manager at London Aquatics Centre, added: "This is a terrific event for us, it is great to be welcoming back an international competition and some of the world’s best swimmers.
“We're expecting a star-studded line-up on show at the iconic venue and it should have a very similar feel to when the London 2012 Games, 2014, 2015, and 2019 FINA World Series, World Para Swimming Championships 2019, or the 2016 European Aquatics Championships, all created such an electric atmosphere in the past."
For more information or to buy tickets, visit https://www.londonaquaticscentre.org/newsitems/adam-peaty-race-international-is-coming-to-london-aquatics-centre.
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