Fast Track announces three more sponsorship partners at national level for the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships. This now takes the total amount of partners to a new record of eleven partners with more to be announced.
John Lewis, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and Manchester Arndale (Shopping Centre) have all come on board to support the Championships to be held in Manchester from 9 to 13 April, 2008, thanks to the hard work of Fast Track’s Rights Marketing Team.
Other partners already announced are Kellogg's, Trafford Centre, Pure Group, Serco plc / Northern Rail, GMG Radio, MEN Media, Manchester Airport, United Utilities.
The five-day event will be the first World Swimming Championship of its kind to be staged in the UK and with over 130 different countries confirming their entry so far it will to be the biggest World Swimming Championships ever. Two huge temporary pools will also be built in The Manchester Evening News Arena, which will be the first music and entertainment venue in the UK to host competitive swimming.
John Lewis has agreed to support the championships by providing clothing in the way of suits for the FINA officials and technical team involved in the World Swimming Championships. The group will also be selling tickets for the championships from the Customer Services Department at its Trafford Centre Store.
Mark Gifford, Operations Manager for John Lewis, said: “We are honoured to be supporting the FINA World Swimming Championships this year and look forward to what will undoubtedly be a fantastic event for the city of Manchester.”
GMPTE will provide free travel on its Metrolink tram network for 2,000 staff, volunteers and athletes involved in the World Swimming Championships. It will be an integral part of the transportation strategy for the event, helping to encourage the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly travel.
Michael Renshaw, GMPTE’s Interim Service Delivery Director, said: “We are pleased to be able to support the FINA World Swimming Championships. We hope that our involvement will help to highlight the efficiency and reliability of public transport in Greater Manchester and encourage more people to take the environmentally friendly option of leaving cars at home during the event.”
Manchester Arndale has agreed to support the championships in many ways, including extensive advertising throughout the centre, the promotion of ticket sales and by hosting exclusive events in the run up to the championships.
Glen Barkworth, General Manager of Manchester Arndale comments: “We are honoured to be supporting the FINA World Swimming Championships this year and look forward to what will undoubtedly be yet another fantastic event for the city of Manchester.”
Head of PR, five times world short course, swimming Champion and Mancunian James Hickman added: “It’s fantastic to have so many supporting partners on board at this stage. We are working with many of them already to ensure we deliver the best World Championships ever staged.”
Marc Hope, Director of Rights Marketing at Fast Track said: "We are thrilled to announce these three latest national partners. They will play a crucial role as well as use the event to showcase their services. This has been the most successful and record breaking Short Course Swimming Championships ever in terms of numbers of partners involved. We hope to announce more soon."
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For further sponsorship enquiries please call Marc Hope at Fast Track on +44 (0) 7799 662 187
Notes:
The 9th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) will be held at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England from April 9th to 13th 2008. For further information please contact: James Hickman on email james.hickman@m2008.org or Sarah Gormley on tel: 07919 886488 or email sarah.gormley@m2008.org
FINA is the world governing body for Aquatics (Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo, Open Water and Masters) and has 194 national member federations. Manchester will stage the 9th FINA Swimming World Championships in the same year that FINA celebrates its Centenary. Current Official Partners of the 9th FINA Swimming World Championships (25m) 2008 are Speedo, Yakult, Astral Pool and Omega.
The 9th FINA World Swimming Championships, Manchester 2008 is being delivered through a funding partnership that includes…Manchester City Council - Following the success of the XVII Commonwealth Games in 2002, Manchester has developed a worldwide reputation for hosting major international events that benefit the community by attracting visitors and investment to the city. The event is one of three world championships coming to the City in 2008 along with the UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the Hi-Tec World Squash Championships, as well as the UEFA Cup Final.
British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain. It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association) British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) leads the economic development and regeneration of England's North West and is responsible for:
• Supporting business growth and encouraging investment
• Matching skills provision to employer needs
• Creating the conditions for economic growth
• Connecting the region through effective transport and communication infrastructure
• Promoting the region’s outstanding quality of life
More at www.nwda.co.uk.
UK Sport’s National Lottery funded World Class Events Programme aims to secure sporting events of strategic importance that deliver a range of lasting benefits. These include economic, social and cultural benefits as well as improving sporting performance by home athletes, encouraging participation and leaving a legacy of facilities and development initiatives. Over 100 sporting events have been staged in the UK through the Programme since 1997. More at www.uksport.gov.uk
