The U.S. Olympic Swim Trials "will be coming back" to Omaha in '20 for a fourth consecutive time, according to a front-page piece by Rich Kaipust of the OMAHA WORLD-HERALD. The '16 event "smashed overall attendance records and brought crowds of 14,000-plus to six of eight night sessions at the CenturyLink Center." Securing dates that "didn’t overlap too extensively with the College World Series was the final hurdle." The '20 dates are tentatively set for June 21-28, "forced into an earlier start" because the Tokyo Games will begin July 24. A June 21-28 event "would result in at least three days of overlap with the CWS," scheduled to run June 13-23 or 24 in '20. Kaipust writes among other major sports that hold U.S. Olympic Trials, Omaha hosting swimming in '08, '12 and '16 has been "paralleled only by track and field spending those same years" in Eugene, Ore. The U.S. Trials and CWS shared some dates in both '12 and '16. USA Swimming interim Exec Dir Mike Unger said, "We would all prefer not to have an overlap, but we have the overlap" (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 5/2). Unger said that the organization "did not take bids for the Trials." In Omaha, Tom Shatel notes there were conversations with a "handful of other interested cities, but the sentiment was Omaha." There is a "relationship and trust building, and Omaha and USA Swimming have found they make as much sense together as the proximity of the practice and competition pools that Unger referenced." Shatel: "We’re becoming a hub, if we aren’t there already." Omaha in '20 will host the CWS, Olympic Swim Trials and NCAA Volleyball Championship. Shatel: "No sweat. Omaha has shown it can hang in the deep end" (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 5/2).
