South Korea: the host nation of the 1988 Olympic Games is to throw its hat in the ring for the 2013 world swimming championships in the wake of the withdrawal of the bid winner last time round, Dubai in times of financial trouble. "We decided to bid for the 2013 World Championships at the request of the international swimming body, FINA," Lee Ki-heung, president of the Korea Swimming Federation (KSF) told local media. Korea, home to Olympic 400m free champion Park Tae-hwan, was among several potential bidders approached by FINA after Dubai, host to the world s/c championships this December, abandoned its 2013 long-course commitment. Sydney, Australia, is also said to have reported an interest in the 2013 event. A decision will be made in September as FINA and partners head to the international federation's first Convention aimed at planning for the future. It is understood that the two cities that competed against Dubai, namely Hamburg and Moscow, in the original bidding round, no longer wish to be considered as candidates.
Canada: Ashton Baumann, son of medley legend Alex Baumann, raced to his his first national title Canadian Age Group Swimming Championships, taking the 100 breaststroke among 17-18 year-olds in 1:03.47. That shaved more than 2secs off his previous best. "My training is going really well and I was certainly hoping to go a best time tonight," said Baumann, of Ottawa. "I kept the focus on technique. It’s been a great year for me so far and I’ve really improved under new coach (Derrick Schoof of Gloucester-Ottawa)."
Australia: Emily Seebohm, among those excelling in textile 2010, has told Australian papers that she is delighted to have seen the back of shiny suits banned since January 1. "I train hard, so I guess I just thought if I trained hard I'd get there without them (the fast suits)," Seebohm told the Courier Mail and other papers. Seebohm steered clear of wearing a 100% poly suit and in 2009 stuck to her 50% poly suit of 2008. She said: "I just never liked them. They never felt natural. I just wanted to wear togs. It's good for me now because I don't know what it felt like to be in those and what you don't know, you can't miss." Seebohm added that the Beijing Olympic Games was a turning point in her career, mentally, physically and emotionally. "I guess I have grown up a bit. Stronger muscles, stronger in the water, I feel better in the water, I can pull more water when I swim," she said. "Coming back after Beijing was difficult because I didn't swim as well as I would have liked in the individual, but I swam well in the relay. I came back and really trained hard in the individual and going into last year's worlds and coming back with the bronze has obviously shown me I can do it. This year I'll see what I can do. I definitely want to go under 59s (in the 100m backstroke) . . . but we'll see what happens in the new suits."
