Perth to host Uni Championship

Australian University Sport (AUS) in partnership with the University of Western Australia (UWA) has secured the 2016 World University Match Racing Championships. The International University Sports Federation (FISU) named Perth as the official host city during a live webcast on Sunday November 10.

This will be the third time that Australia hosts a World University Championship event and it is the first time that the Match Racing Championship will be held in the southern hemisphere since its inception in 1999. The other unique aspect of this championship is that it will be held in conjunction with the 2016 Australian University Games which is the largest annual multisport event held in Australia.

AUS CEO Don Knapp is extremely pleased with the success of the joint bid submitted by AUS and UWA and remarked on the merits of the destination as well as the strength of the sailing talent currently being developed in Perth and UWA in particular.

"We are thrilled to win the right to stage this prestigious World University Championship event in Perth, which of course is one of the great sailing destinations of the world. This is a great coup for university sailing to secure this event off the back of the two Australian men’s crews taking out the gold and silver medals at the 2012 event in France. No doubt Sam Gilmour the gold medal winning skipper from UWA will be gunning for a repeat result on his home turf in 2016," said Mr Knapp.

UWA Sport and Recreation Association (UWA Sports) Executive Director Bruce Meakins is also very pleased with the outcome: "Perth has a long tradition of sailing excellence and is the home to an emerging generation of young talented sailors. With its proximity to Asia, being situated on the Indian Ocean rim, hosting the championships also bears a great opportunity for UWA to build lasting relationships with this vastly growing region," Mr Meakins said.

For more information go to: www.fisu.net