Aberdeen Sports Village will host the prestigious Para Swimming World Series in what will be the biggest competition ASV has held since it opened.
It will be the first time the four-day competition has been held in Aberdeen when hundreds of the world’s elite athletes compete in the city between February 17-20.
The event also incorporates the British Para-Swimming Meet, which will kick off this year’s season for swimming stars preparing for World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
In last year’s competition in Sheffield, 90 athletes from 21 countries took part. It featured British athletes who went on to succeed at the Paralympic Games later in the year, such as Reece Dunn, Hannah Russell and Grace Harvey.
There will be local representation at ASV as Aberdeen-based swimmer and Turriff native Conner Morrison is set to compete in the World Series after his success in reaching the finals of the Men’s S14 100m Breaststroke at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
Conner, who joined the University of Aberdeen Performance Swimming (UOAPS) team at ASV in 2015, has been coached at the Aquatics Centre for the past six years.
As well as qualifying for the Paralympics, he also swam for the national squad in the European Para Championships in Dublin in 2018 and Madeira in 2021.
UOAPS coach Gregor McMillan said: “It is fantastic to be hosting this event at the Aquatics Centre as it will attract the absolute elite of para swimmers to Aberdeen and ASV.
“It will showcase our abilities to host such a high calibre event, with our facilities, environment and skilled team.
“It will be a brilliant experience for Conner and a fantastic opportunity for him to race some of the world’s top swimmers in his own backyard.
“Our able bodied and para-athletes all train together and the venue is getting stronger and stronger for performance athletes to come in and reach their full potential and compete on the world stage.
“We also have some new para-athletes currently coming through our programme with sights set on the Paralympics 2028.”
Putting Aberdeen on the swimming map
Hosting the Para Swimming World Series 2022 will place ASV firmly on the competitive swimming map and bring an economic boost to Aberdeen, with athletes and their coaches staying in the city centre throughout the event.
British Swimming Associate Performance Director Tim Jones added: “I’m delighted that with the confirmation of this event, we are adding to the legacy of the UK’s reputation as one of the leading para-sport hosts in the world.
“The Para Swimming World Series is a very important competition for us across various levels of the para-swimming pathway.
“Those athletes challenging for places on senior British teams thrive off the stimulus of racing their international counterparts in the build towards major international meets, and this meet will play a part in selections for 2022’s World Championships in Madeira.
“Meanwhile, direct head-to-head racing is a vital part of the development of our up-and-coming athletes.”
