Feb. 19--Offering to replace Mexico as host of the 2017 World Aquatics Championships might win the United States big brownie points in the race for the 2024 Summer Olympics -- especially since the water event is to take place a couple months before the vote for the 2024 Olympic host city.
The chance of that happening is virtually nil.
"We would love to host a long course world championships in the United States, but the economic requirements make it impossible for us to seriously consider," USA Swimming executive director Chuck Wielgus said in an email.
That is why Mexico has withdrawn as host, with media reports Wednesday citing economic distress caused by the fall of oil prices as a prime factor in the decision. The event was to take place in Guadelajara July 15-30, 2015.
It is why the United States, the world's most successful swimming country, never has been host of the sport's biggest non-Olympic event.
The price tag? About $80 million.
The chance to break even? None.
The best bet for a substitute host? Probably Qatar, the country that is buying up global sporting events as fast as it can and was the fill-in host for last December's World Short Course Swimming Championships after Catania, Italy threw them back.
The biennial world aquatics championships includes not only swimming but diving, water polo, synchronized swimming and open water swimming. The 2015 event, to be held in Kazan, Russia, this July, also will have masters swimming, which is to be included at all future world aquatics meets.
Given the dismal state of the Russian economy, also linked to falling oil prices, only Russian President Vladimir Putin's devotion to sports can guarantee the Kazan meet will go on as planned.
The United States never has been host to one of the 15 world aquatics championships already held, and other countries are to host four future editions that have been allocated by the international swimming federation (FINA).
Concord, Calif., was initially named host of the second world aquatics championships in 1975 but the city withdrew for financial reasons. Cali, Colombia, took over. Long Beach, Callif., lost by one vote to Montreal as host of the 2005 meet.
The Mexican withdrawal means that FINA will have had to move four big events since 2013, when the world aquatics championships went from Dubai to Barcelona, and the world junior swimming championships moved from Casablanca, Morocco to Dubai.
