'Huge coup for the city' as Swim Trials ink deal

Negotiations didn't go without some ripples, but a contract has been smoothed out to bring the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials back to Omaha in 2012.

The eight-day swimming meet will run June 25 to July 2 at Qwest Center Omaha, overlapping at least one day, and possibly two, with the 2012 College World Series.

That was the biggest hurdle in negotiations that started in January and were preceded by talks that began several months earlier.

“Finally,” said Harley Schrager, chairman of the Omaha Sports Commission. “This took a lot longer than we anticipated.”

Omaha officials decided immediately after hosting the 2008 U.S. Trials that the city would pursue the event again. Omaha set an attendance record last year by drawing 160,003 fans over eight days and 15 sessions.

“I think it's just the greatest thing that could happen to Omaha,” said Schrager, who also served as chairman for the 2008 U.S. Trials. “Once you see the economic study that we had done regarding the Swim Trials, I think you'll see this was one heck of a shot in the arm to Omaha's economy.

“This is a huge coup for the city.”

Chuck Wielgus and Mike Unger of USA Swimming arrived in Omaha late this morning to sign the contract. An afternoon press conference was scheduled at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce offices.

It appeared in December that the U.S. Trials and CWS could not coexist in 2012 because of scheduling conflicts. Those were resolved in January when the NCAA agreed to start the College World Series a day earlier than planned (June 15) and USA Swimming gave the OK to starting later than initially hoped (June 27).

But a snag occurred in April when NBC called for the June 25 to July 2 dates for the U.S. Trials. NBC will be paying more than $2 billion in rights and sponsorship fees to televise the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2012 Summer Games, as well as $12 million to carry the U.S. Trials.

The CWS in 2012 will finish on June 25 if the championship series goes two games and June 26 if a third game is necessary. The 2012 CWS will be the second in the new baseball stadium on the Qwest Center Omaha grounds.

“The main logistical issue is going to be parking,” Schrager said. “We've been working on that already, and we think that we'll have sufficient resources to overcome that.

“Will there be a little inconvenience for those attending the Swim Trials the first night? Yeah, there will be. We'll have to run some shuttles and things like that.”

As far as hotel space and other issues, Schrager notes that six of the eight CWS teams will have left Omaha by the weekend before the U.S. Trials begin on a Monday.

Sharing of Qwest Center Omaha already has been discussed. In addition to using the arena, the U.S. Trials also require almost half of the lower level of the convention center for a warmup pool. In 2008, the convention center also was home to the AquaZone for fan entertainment.

“The real star here and the real beneficiary of our efforts is Omaha,” Schrager said. In 2008, the U.S. Trials began four days after the CWS concluded. An earlier start for the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, had coaches for the U.S. team and major clubs requesting that the Trials begin sooner as well.

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com