Looking to build on the interest in swimming sparked by the Beijing Games, USA Swimming and NBC Sports announced a partnership sure to make a splash. The partnership will result in the broadcast of the 2009 USA Swimming National Championships and the 2009 World Swimming Championships on NBC Sports and Universal Sports, NBC's newly minted Olympic channel.

NBC will provide weekend coverage of the 2009 World Championships and Universal Sports, the channel it co-owns with InterMedia Partners, will offer midweek coverage.

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"(This is) awesome news for our sport," said Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming's executive director. "After the success of our Olympic Trials and after what took place at the Olympic Games, I'm confident that we can attract and hold an audience."

In a statement, NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said, "The whole world watched as Michael Phelps took his sport to a new level and introduced a generation of fans to swimming through his extraordinary achievements. His accomplishments transcend sports and are, in fact, a cultural phenomenon. We're greatly looking forward to following the next chapter in his career."

The announcement is the culmination of more than a year of talks between USA Swimming and NBC Sports. Wielgus first met with NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol in June 2007 to propose a joint venture between the network and the national governing body around the annual broadcasts of the FINA World Championships and the national championships.

WCSN, which NBC bought an equity stake in and renamed earlier this year, had a four-year agreement in the U.S. to air FINA events, including the 2009 FINA World Championships. The channel is now known as Universal Sports, and it is distributed in 13 million homes according to the most recent reports.