It was formally called a Press Conference, but we could rather name it a “Motivational Conference”. More than 120 children from the GEMS Wellington Academy in Dubai (UAE) had today a different morning, after they were able to interact with five of the stars present in the last leg of the 2015 FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup, taking place on November 6-7. Chad Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh (both from South Africa), Katinka Hosszu (HUN), and Australians Emily Seebohm and Mitch Larkin talked about their personal experiences to a very motivated assistance and shared their experiences with, who knows, some future swimming champions.

Le Clos obviously spoke about his feelings in what was one of the most thrilling races of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, when he beat “the best swimmer in history”, US legend Michael Phelps.

“You have to believe that you can actually win. Of course, this race will always be in my mind, but the main thing is that I definitively thought that I could get the gold on that event!”, Le Clos recalled.

Emily Seebohm confessed that the “travelling around the world” was definitively the best thing around her swimming career.

“We don’t happen to see too much of the country we are in, but I always try my best to at least see something that symbolises the place I am competing”, declared the Australian.

Questions and replies went on about the musical preferences of the athletes – most of them confessing that they listen to music just before the race in order to “forget and to relax” before the decisive moment -, on what crosses their mind during their quest for success, their training routines, or their personal history in swimming.

The five champions were visibly happy to respond to these very young “journalists” and continued with pleasure the interaction with the students also outside the room, in a collective autograph session.


©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia

The more official part of the Conference was delivered by Ryan Arblaster, FINA Technical Swimming Committee member, who expressed FINA’s satisfaction to be back to Dubai for this eighth and final leg of the World Cup. He also revealed the latest update on the participation in Dubai, with 444 swimmers from 56 National Federations entered. At his side, Abdulla Al Wahebi, General Secretary of the UAE Swimming Association and Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmad, from the Dubai Sports Council, highlighted the local authorities’ commitment and support to the organisation of FINA events in the dynamic and cosmopolitan UAE metropolis.

The competition will take place in the already iconic Hamdan Sports Complex, host of many FINA events over the last years, namely the 2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) and the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships.