By Nick Buglione
The Water Polo World League Super Final, dubbed the "World Cup" of water polo, will feature six national men's teams from the Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA): the U.S., Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, and Serbia and Montenegro. The winning team will qualify for the 2004 summer Olympics.
"The FINA World League Water Polo is truly an international event," said Claudio Bozzo, president of the 2003 World Polo Organizing Committee. "It is our commitment to ensure that this competition will do for water polo's popularity here what the 1994 World Cup did for soccer's."
This marks the first time the championship will be held in the United States.
"We are very excited that the finals are being held in Nassau County," said Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. "The games will be a fun and exciting international event for everyone."
The championship, Aug. 22-25, could attract as many as 12,000 spectators to the Aquatic Center, according to Michael Hollander, president of the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission.
The commission was instrumental in attracting the water polo event to the struggling center, which has been losing more than $2 million a year.
"We always try to get as many events as we can onto Long Island and into the Aquatic Center," said Hollander, noting that there are two more competitions lined up for the Eisenhower Park pool, in January and March 2004.
Aside from the $200,000 the water polo championships could bring in for the center, a figure provided by the Nassau County Sports, Entertainment and Tourism Committee, Hollander estimated that the event will generate $3 million to $5 million in overall commerce for Nassau County.
The championship didn't come without a price, however. The Aquatic Center, the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission and a major hotel together shelled out about $20,000 as part of the deal. Most of that money will be used to advertise the championship, Hollander said.
He believes it's money will spent, considering the national and international exposure the Aquatic Center will get by hosting the event. It is hoped that the center can parlay that exposure into the chance to host a wider spectrum of competitions, Hollander said.
"This is an opportunity to show our facilities and services for the International Olympic Committee, and [we] hope that the success of the event will encourage them to consider New York for the 2012 Olympics," he said.
But even if the IOC picks New York to host those games, it's doubtful that any of the aquatic events would be held at the Nassau County center.
The Astoria Pools in Queens, which would be renovated if New York City is picked, would be the likely site of the swimming, diving and water polo competitions.
"Our plan is based on the Olympic 'X,' which is a north-to-south water ferry and an east-to-west rail line," said Laz Benitez, spokesman for NYC 2012. "The plan calls for all of our venues to be no further than 20 miles from the Olympic village, which is based in [western] Queens. That's why the Astoria Pools would host the water events. That's not to say that the Eisenhower Park pool wouldn't be used as a training venue or a workout venue."
Hollander is holding out hope that the Aquatic Center might still be considered for some Olympic events. "I believe that it always has a chance," he said.
Since the Aquatic Center opened for the 1998 Goodwill Games, many believed that its world-class, 80,000-square-foot pool would attract major swimming and diving competitions to Nassau. Though it also hosted the 1999 Empire State Games and the 2000 women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the facility has fallen short of expectations.
Some, like county parks Commissioner Doreen Banks, maintain that focusing on bringing in competitive meets is partly why the Aquatic Center wound up in its fiscal rut. Not enough attention was paid to marketing the pool to residents for recreation, Banks has said.
The county struck a tentative deal earlier this month to allow YMCA Long Island to help manage the center, but the county Legislature Rules Committee voted against the plan, 5-4, in a July 21 hearing, leaving the county to weigh other options for turning the struggling facility around.
Tickets for the FINA Water Polo World League Super Final are available on the official Web site at www.2003waterpolo.com.
Pictured above, From left, Michael Hollander, pres. of the conventions bureau; county Legislature Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs; Claudio Bozzo, pres. of the 2003 Water Polo Organizing Committee; County Exec. Thomas Suozzi; Tom Seitz, exec. director of USA Water Polo and Stuart Held, exec. director of the Nassau County Sports, Entertainment & Tourism Committee.
