Doha, Qatar: 2nd December 2014 – Aspetar, the officially designated sports medicine services provider for the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), will provide the world’s top swimmers with superior medical expertise and a host of essential services, including ambulance services, a fully equipped medical clinic both on-site and at the Athletes Official Accommodation, and a specialist physiotherapy, massage therapy and spectator medical coverage The prestigious event, which will be held in the state-of-the-art Hamad Aquatic Centre in Doha from 3rd – 7th December 2014, promises to be one of the most successful sporting events of the year with 900 of the world's fastest swimmers competing in 46 races, including 34 individual and 12 relay, to win one of the 138 medals Welcoming ASPETAR as a medical partner Mr, Khalil Al Jaber, President of Qatar Swimming Association and CEO of Doha 2014, commented:

“Qatar continues to gain a worldwide reputation for sporting excellence through a powerful mix of emerging athlete talent, the successful hosting of prestigious international events and the development of credible sporting expertise and facilities".

To have the support of ASPETAR and to connect Qatar’s very own innovative state-of-the-art specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital facility to the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships is both the perfect example and opportunity to showcase Qatar’s sporting progress on the world stage. It is with huge pride that I welcome a Doha-based local partner of such stature to a World Championship being hosted in Qatar for the first time.” Dr Khalifa Al Kuwari, Director General of Aspetar, said:

“It is a great opportunity for us to provide expertise to visiting swimmers and teams to help them prepare and maximise their performance during the competition in Doha, thereby confirming our commitment towards helping athletes achieve their full potential. We are delighted to be the official Sports Medicine Partner of the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)”.

Aspetar has a long history of providing and coordinating sports medical support at major sporting events, both locally and across the region, and has traditionally been a strong follower of swimming, previously collaborating with the Australian, South African and French national teams. The three teams were having the opportunity to make use of the hospital’s advanced altitude-inducing normobaric hypoxic (oxygen reduced) rooms Aspetar will also collaborate with FINA to conduct a cardiovascular screening project among the participating swimmers named The Swimmer’s Heart Project, which will be led by Aspetar’s Dr Nathan Riding, Lead Principle Investigator, and Dr Farhad Moradi, FINA Sports Medicine Committee. Given the gap in scientific knowledge about this problem, they aim to define the electrocardiographic adaptations of the swimmers’ heart and determine the feasibility of screening these elite swimmers. In addition, directly ahead of the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), Doha is hosting the 3rd FINA WAC Coaches Clinic from 29th November – 1st December 2014 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha. A knowledge-sharing opportunity for top-level coaches, the clinic will provide a platform for industry leaders and decision makers to facilitate and support sustainable growth of aquatic sports around the world. During the 3rd FINA WAC Coaches Clinic Dr Thomas Patrick, Performance Manger with Aspetar’s National Sports Medicine Programme will join Rohan Taylor, High Performance Coach of the Nunawading Swim Club and a member of the Australian Swim Team, in presenting material on the optimal sport science and medical support for high performance swimming.