The 12-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide sculpture portrays a male swimmer appearing to be emerging from the water to take a breath.....
And just like that, an Olympic swimmer made up of 300 pounds of steel and 750 pounds of plastic foam had been born.....
Mutual of Omaha is unveiling its “Phase 2” on June 11, a project that is said to complement the giant swimmer. While the details are confidential, Hildenbiddle isn't afraid to make promises.
“It'll be totally different than anything Omaha has ever seen in this city,” he said. He paused before reasserting himself.
A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at CenturyLink Center that will include Harold Cliff, chief operating officer for the U.S. Trials, as well as community leaders and a Myrtha Pools USA representative.
Kevin McGrath, president and CEO of Myrtha Pools USA, told The World-Herald last month: “The legacy’s going to be great for the city.”
A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at CenturyLink Center that will include Harold Cliff, chief operating officer for the U.S. Trials, as well as community leaders and a Myrtha Pools USA representative.
Kevin McGrath, president and CEO of Myrtha Pools USA, told The World-Herald last month: “The legacy’s going to be great for the city.”
The last quote is the interesting part.
Omaha NEEDS a new indoor 50 meter pool. The only one we have is UNO's and it is an older six lane pool with limited deck space.
It was funny, on SportsCenter after the game tonight they went right from coverage of the CWS in Omaha to coverage of the swim trials. I think Omaha will be hard to forget after this.
Erin Golden of the Omaha World Herald wrote:If you were hoping to get tickets to Saturday night's finals at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, you're out of luck. It's the first time the event, held at the CenturyLink Center, has had a sellout night in Omaha -- either this year or in 2008. Organizers said the Friday night finals are nearly sold out.
I understand if they want to move around, but I wish Omaha could become the permanent destination for the swim trials. It's such a cool event to have in town and to watch.
ShawJ wrote:I understand if they want to move around, but I wish Omaha could become the permanent destination for the swim trials. It's such a cool event to have in town and to watch.
I think that if wherever it goes in 2016 doesn't live up to what has happened here, then it'll be back in 2020. I still hope, though, that the city bids on the 2016 trials and gives it a shot at least.
ShawJ wrote:I understand if they want to move around, but I wish Omaha could become the permanent destination for the swim trials. It's such a cool event to have in town and to watch.
I think that if wherever it goes in 2016 doesn't live up to what has happened here, then it'll be back in 2020. I still hope, though, that the city bids on the 2016 trials and gives it a shot at least.
I think this is another event where having the convention center connected to the arena is going to be a huge advantage, most arenas won't be able to have a practice pool so close to the regulation pool. Also it sounds like the Aqua Zone has been a huge hit.
I also don't see this going back to a swim only venue, we have set the bar to high for that.
I hope we bid on win for 2016 as well. I'm not a swim fan and have no interest in this but others do. I think Omaha is doing a great job and this facility is perfect for this event. If we lose it in 2016 and get it back in 2020 sometimes it's rough to get the momentum for the event back. Not only is the convention center/arena perfect for this but geographically Omaha is a good place for this event. Plus it get treated big time here, in other larger markets cities it might not get the attention that it does here.
ShawJ wrote:I understand if they want to move around, but I wish Omaha could become the permanent destination for the swim trials. It's such a cool event to have in town and to watch.
I think that if wherever it goes in 2016 doesn't live up to what has happened here, then it'll be back in 2020. I still hope, though, that the city bids on the 2016 trials and gives it a shot at least.
I think this is another event where having the convention center connected to the arena is going to be a huge advantage, most arenas won't be able to have a practice pool so close to the regulation pool. Also it sounds like the Aqua Zone has been a huge hit.
I also don't see this going back to a swim only venue, we have set the bar to high for that.
I agree with both you, and Greg. Omaha is an event town, we love the major events we have here and support them fully. I just don't think it'll get the same treatment elsewhere. Plus, as CP mentioned...the Convention center being attached is huge.
I wonder what our actual odds at getting it in 2016 are.
ShawJ wrote:I understand if they want to move around, but I wish Omaha could become the permanent destination for the swim trials. It's such a cool event to have in town and to watch.
I think that if wherever it goes in 2016 doesn't live up to what has happened here, then it'll be back in 2020. I still hope, though, that the city bids on the 2016 trials and gives it a shot at least.
I think this is another event where having the convention center connected to the arena is going to be a huge advantage, most arenas won't be able to have a practice pool so close to the regulation pool. Also it sounds like the Aqua Zone has been a huge hit.
I also don't see this going back to a swim only venue, we have set the bar to high for that.
I agree with both you, and Greg. Omaha is an event town, we love the major events we have here and support them fully. I just don't think it'll get the same treatment elsewhere. Plus, as CP mentioned...the Convention center being attached is huge.
I wonder what our actual odds at getting it in 2016 are.
We will put a bid in for 2016 but I highly doubt we'll get it. USA Swimming has all but said they want trials to be somewhere else in 2016, and if thats the case I have no problem with it. This event has resulted in Omaha FINALLY planning another 50 meter indoor pool in the city and getting Omaha more interested in the sport.
Awesome crowd last night. I've never attended a swimming event of any kind until 2008 and have watched Olympic swimming on TV sparingly. But I have come to absolutely love the swimming trials. I really hope they go after it again aggressively. Like a previous poster said, the convention center gives Omaha a huge advantage in bids. It allows entities to do so much more. But it'll largely depend on financials.
While Omaha gives great support, I don't think people realize how many out of town visitors attend. Entire swimming teams and families come from all over. The crowd is fun as there are several different cheering sections throughout it starting chants. Though Omaha certainly brings the rock star treatment.
The trials always makes me wish UNO hockey could fill the CLink and had the money to invest in some lighting. The arena rocks when it's more than half full.
I wonder which event, swim trials or CWS has more out of towners attending the events? Which one are Omahans making up the greater % of total attendance?
Greg S wrote:I wonder which event, swim trials or CWS has more out of towners attending the events? Which one are Omahans making up the greater % of total attendance?
A good indicator is local hotel rates, and they were higher the past two weekends than for this coming weekend.
Coyote wrote:So, just what is seating capacity for the swim trials setup?
•In 2008, the arena seated slightly over 13,000. Construction of the pool required losing the first 10 permanent rows of seating. In 2012, the first nine rows will be removed, so seating will be slightly more, roughly 13,200.
•Attendance was more than 160,000 for the 15 total sessions in 2008, breaking the previous Trials record in Long Beach by more than 40,000.
Through Thursday evening total attendance is: 84,493.
Friday still had about 1,000 seats left and Saturday is completely sold out...so there should be many more to come.
skinzfan23 wrote:Through Thursday evening total attendance is: 84,493.
Friday still had about 1,000 seats left and Saturday is completely sold out...so there should be many more to come.
I think '08 was 160,000 total. Hopefully push 175,000 this time around. If that is the case there would be around 500,000 attendance in a 18 day window of the summer between CWS and Swim Trials. Pretty freaking impressive.
Yesterday morning about 3000 people rolled up and left right after for the 100 fly prelims. It was cool seeing prelims PACKED, I have never seen anything like it.
For those of us that cannot attend but only watch this on NBC:
How long is it between heats/finals?
Does this really all happen in the one hour 8pm time frame?
What happens in between? Music? Videos?...
Coyote wrote:For those of us that cannot attend but only watch this on NBC:
How long is it between heats/finals?
Does this really all happen in the one hour 8pm time frame?
What happens in between? Music? Videos?...
I have not been able to attend in 2012. However in 2008 it was crazy how fast it went.
So they don't really wait for the course to be stilled before they jump the next heat?
They say that they banned those suits from last year -
so records like last year have not been broken like they thought.
