Olympic gold-winning backstroke queen Natalie Coughlin to compete in Singapore at FINA World Cup

Contributed by Shane Neubronner

Singapore, Thursday, August 12, 2010 — The most decorated female athlete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics, Natalie Coughlin of the USA, today confirmed her participation in the Singapore leg of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup that will be held from 16-17 October at the Singapore Sports School. This comes after the confirmation that the Singapore Swimming Association has signed on to host a leg of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup for the next four years till 2013.

The FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup is an international series of swimming meets organised by FINA, the International Federation for swimming. The series started in 1989, and is open to swimmers from FINA member federations.

Singapore has hosted a leg of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup since 2007 and is the third stop of the 2010 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup series which begins with the legs in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) from 10-13 September and Beijing (CHN) from October 12-13. The additional legs of the series will also be held in Tokyo (Japan),Berlin (GER), Moscow (RUS) and Stockholm (SWE).

At the 2008 Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals (1 gold, two silver and three bronze) in an Olympic event and the first woman to have clinched the 100m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. Known for her strong underwater kicking ability and dominance in the short course pool, Coughlin is on the comeback trail having taken time off from swimming last year to get married and is the first of the foreign swimmers to confirm her participation.

Compatriot and backstroke specialist Randall Bal has also confirmed his participation in the two day event that will carry a combine prize purse of US$102,000. The Singapore Swimming Association is expecting more than 140 local and foreign entries for this event. More elite swimmers will be announced over the next few weeks as their entries are confirmed.

“We are extremely pleased to announce Natalie Coughlin’s participation at the fourth edition of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup in Singapore. Natalie will be the one to beat in the backstroke events and it will be exciting to see the competition unfold across all the race categories. As we look to confirm the participation of even more swimmers in the next few weeks, I am confident that spectators will be treated to exciting world class swimming action during the event,” said Mr. Ang Peng Wee,Chairman of the Organising Committee of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup (Singapore).

The FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup will be held at the Singapore Sports School from the 16-17 October. Heats will be held at 9am to 11am and the finals at 6pm to 8pm on both days. Ticket prices are at $20 per day or $30 for 2 days. Tickets are available at www.finaworldcup.com.sg or call 6258 1011 for more information.