FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Julie O’Neill, Swimming Program Manager, 719-866-2036

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The inaugural U.S. Paralympics Open Swimming Championships, Dec. 8-10, 2005 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, will play host to over 135 athletes from 16 different countries.

The event, the largest IPC Swimming approved competition to ever be held in the USA outside of the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, will feature top competitors from around the world including numerous medalists from the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.

Top USA athletes include Erin Popovich (Butte, Mt.), who earned seven gold medals at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games; Travis Mohr (Whitehall, Pa.), a gold medalist at both the Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games; Jessica Long (Baltimore, Md.), who garnered three gold medals at the Athens 2004 Games; Curtis Lovejoy (Atlanta, Ga.), a multiple event World Record holder and medalist in both Sydney and Athens; and Justin Zook (Plymouth, Minn.), gold medalist at the Athens 2004 Games.

Several local Minneapolis area athletes are entered into the competition including Zook who represents Springfield College, Anna Eames and Melissa Stockwell of the Twin Cities Swim Team (TWIN), Anessa Kemna of the Mach 3 Flyers (M3F), Sarah Galbrecht of North Suburban Aquatics, Claire Forrest of the Minnesota Blizzard, and Darren Campion swimming Unattached.

A full list of nations represented at the event follows: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Taiwan, and the USA.

Competition will begin each day with preliminaries at 10:00 am, and continue with finals each evening at 7:00 pm.

Preliminary entry lists are available online at www.usparalympics.org.

Media credentials are available. Please contact Julie O’Neill at U.S. Paralympics, 719/866-2036 or julie.o’neill@usoc.org.