This event is the big meeting for all those men and women who love sport and love the water.
The Mediterranean will once again be a bridge between nations, ideas and cultures - a symbol of life. Water will bind us together in a celebration, which will combine the toughest competitive spirit with the spirit of fiesta, fraternity and co-operation between peoples.
During the competition's thirteen days, Barcelona will be the world reference for aquatic sports. The event will bring together all the stars of the moment, participating in swimming, water polo, synchronised swimming, diving and open water events.
Joan Clos, mayor of Barcelona
The Mediterranean has always been the port of entry to Barcelona. People from many races and countries have passed through our city and throughout this history of tolerance and interculturality, we have had the privilege of relying on the best of all back drops: the sea.
Now, Barcelona is looking forward to the FINA World Championships, a great sporting occasion which will make us the capital of swimming in July 2003.
For any city, an event of this kind is an honour and a challenge. For us it is doubly so, because the Championships remind us of the importance of water and the sea in our culture and also the efforts and satisfaction from The Olympic Games in 1992.
I would like to thank FINA for the confidence they have shown in Barcelona. With them and with all the participants we hope to make 2003 an unforgettable year, when water and sport unite every culture.
We are delighted to wish you the warmest of welcomes.
Mustapha Larfaoui, president of FINA
I have the pleasure to present you the 10th FINA World Championships, which will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from 12th to 27th July 2003.
I take this opportunity to thank the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation, the Organising Committee and the local authorities for their efficiency and enthusiasm in the set-up of the 10th FINA World Championships. Barcelona is getting ready to host and to welcome all of you. In this web page and in the official publications of Barcelona03 you will certainly find all the relevant information about the competition, the venues and this magnificent Olympic city.
Rafael Blanco, president of the Spanish Swimming Federation
As President of the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation, I am proud to have the chance to address all of you. Next year will be an important one for swimming not only for Spain, but also for the entire world. Our country, and the city of Barcelona in particular, has accepted the challenge of organizing the upcoming World Swimming Championships, which will bring together the world's finest athletes in the different water disciplines.
Barcelona, having already proven its organizational abilities at the 1992 Olympic Games, now faces another worldwide sports event. The media importance of this event will attract a large number of journalists from the different media to our city. I would like to take this opportunity to address you, the journalists, and encourage you to come to Barcelona. I am convinced that you will enjoy both your work here and the warm welcome you will receive as a visitor to our city.
The Barcelona 2003 Organising Committee, the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) and the different institutions cooperating in the organization of these World Championships are working hard to ensure that swimming, an Olympic sport par excellence, as well as the other water disciplines, will receive maximum coverage at all levels. Your work is essential for achieving this. Swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, water polo, and open water swimming will now offer us new records and achievements, which you will witness directly should you decide to come to Barcelona next July.
I would like to encourage you to come and witness the efforts of hundreds of athletes; hundreds of people who, through their work, will help make Barcelona the swimming capital of the world.
Albert Batlle, president of the Barcelona03 organising committee
If I had to sum up Barcelona in just five words, I'm sure one of them would be "sports". Historically, the city has always been at the forefront of the worldwide sports scene due to the love and interest that the people of Barcelona have always shown for sports, the civic movements that have created some of the oldest sports entities in Europe, and the city's expertise in hosting major international events to bring together people from all over the world.
In 2002, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. However, the event was not a nostalgic commemoration, but a celebration for the future and the year 2003, when the city will again become an international sports capital.
The World Swimming Championships, the most important sports event to be held in Barcelona since 1992, will again bring high-level sports competitions to one of the best-loved Olympic cities. However, the real challenge is to offer the most spectacular images ever seen in the history of swimming. Twelve thousand spectators will witness the event at the Palau Sant Jordi, where the largest temporary pool in the world will be installed.
We want to make the swimming championships a great show. We want July 2003, to be a spectacular celebration of water and sports. And we want you here to witness it and explain it. Welcome to the 10th FINA World Championships. Welcome to Barcelona.
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