13th World Swimming Championships
Hold your breath

Roberto Diacetti, director general of the Organizing Committee.

By Marco Fagioli
march 2009

Roma09, the 13th FINA World Championships, will feature 17 days of intense competition between swimmers and aquatic athletes for world crowns in swimming, diving, water-polo and synchronised swimming. Roberto Diacetti, the director general of the Organizing Committee, is not prepared to make any predictions over who the medal winners will be, but of one thing he’s sure. On 2 August, when the curtain comes down on the championships everyone – competitors and spectators alike – will have enjoyed a great festival of sport.

There are just over four months to the opening ceremony on 17 July. At what stage are preparations for the event?
We’re on schedule. There’s a lot of excitement here in Rome and people are excited about coming to Rome. We’re carrying out a major promotional campaign in Italy and abroad. I’m confident it will be a highly successful event.

There was huge expectation over the sports complex at Tor Vergata designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It was supposed to host many of the pool events and provide accommodation for competitors but the project has now been set aside. Are you disappointed?
There has been a great deal of misunderstanding over this. When Rome presented its bid for the World Championships there was no mention of the Sport City at Tor Vergata. Obviously, if in the meantime new facilities had come onstream we would have asked for FINA’s approval to include them. But this did not happen. The Foro Italico was always intended to be the main facility at the championships. It’s a magnificent setting and I believe it was one of the strong points of our bid. We’re currently modernising the whole complex. In addition to the four permanent pools at the Foro Italico we’re adding two temporary pools just for the championships. These will be placed within the top two courts at the international tennis center next door. [The venue for the Italian Open Tennis Championships.]

Mussolini's private swimming pool at Foro Italico

At the Beijing Olympics thanks to the fast pool and new swimsuit technology there was a slew of new world records. Do you expect results at Roma09 to be equally memorable?
I’m not sure I accept the explanation that the pool in Beijing was unusually fast, the new swimsuits probably had far more impact. But I believe the key factor was the swimmers’ motivation. I hope they’ll be equally motivated in Rome: either to confirm their success or to seek revenge. These world championships could well see more technological innovation for the sport: we’re waiting for FINA to approve the introduction of new starting blocks which could help reduce times still further.
The overall budget was set at 45,200,000 euros.
And we’re on course to stay within budget. We’re very satisfied with the income the event is generating, our marketing campaign has proved highly effective. Although football dominates the sports market in Italy, we’ve managed to eat into marketing areas that previously went to basketball and volleyball. In 2006 we were forecasting sponsorship contracts for Roma09 of around 5.5 million euros. At the end of February we had already reached 7.5 million.

What will the 2009 World Swimming Championships leave behind for the city of Rome?
The strength of our project was always based on a range of social benefits. Apart from the new public swimming complexes at Pietralata, Valco San Paolo and Lido di Ostia and all the privately-owned pools being built in the run-up to the championships, what I’m really hoping for is that there will be a surge in public interest for swimming. The hospitality village will be open to families, top swimming stars will be meeting the public, there will be concerts. Above all there will be a chance for youngsters to take an interest in swimming. At long last swimming is getting the recognition it deserves, including from the media.

Roma09: the numbers

- 17 days of competition: from 17 July to 2 August
- A total of 180,000 tickets on sale
- Ticket prices from 5 to 90 euros
- 5 acquatic disciplines: swimming – diving – water polo – synchronized   swimming – open water swimming (Ostia)
- a total of 400,000 spectators expected for events at the Foro Italico and Lido   di Ostia
- 2,000 volonteers
- 2,500 athletes from 170 nations
- 80 tv networks from around the world

www.roma09.it