The 2012 Short Course World Championships, set to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, will be televised in the United States on Universal Sports, the organization announced earlier this week.
No specifics were given as to whether this coverage would be “live,” however the use of the expression “same-day coverage” seems to imply that this would be another tape-delay scenario that swim fans loved so much during the Olympics.Istanbul time is 7 hours ahead of East Coast United States time.
The American team will depart for the meet on December 7th, allowing an early arrival for an adjustment to the time and perhaps a bit of sight-seeing in one of the most historically-relevant cities in the world.
The event will be held in a temporary pool in the Sinan Erdem Dome – a multipurpose facility on the more modern European side of the city (the western half of Istanbul is Europe, the Eastern is Asia). Depending on how it is configured for the event, the capacity will likely be between 16,000 and 22,500 spectators. The arena has previously held a number of big international events, seemingly without complaint, including the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Championships and several major tennis events.
The Americans will be led by an Olympian-filled roster whose headliners are gold medalists Ryan Lochte, Allison Schmitt, and Matt Grevers.
For more information on the Short Course World Championships, including all of the latest rosters and changes, check out our category page here.