San Francisco 2012 - In Their Own Words

For the past 50 years, California, and more specifically the Bay Area, has nurtured hundreds of Olympic swimmers from around the globe. From Santa Clara’s dynasty throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s to the development of elite competitors at Cal Berkeley and Stanford, the Bay Area has provided the training and testing grounds to best prepare many of Olympic swimming’s household names.

With regulation-size Olympic pools distributed at high schools and training centers throughout the area, and with the perfect athletic climate that impacts so many of its inhabitants, the San Francisco Bay Area has continually provided the best training and competitive environment for aspiring swimmers.

By utilizing Stanford University’s Avery Aquatic Center, which combines world-class pools and facilities in a beautiful, natural setting, San Francisco 2012 is making and will continue to make good on its pledge to put the athletes at the forefront of all of its planning. Although renovated just recently, Avery has already handled NCAA and international sporting competitions, and by using a state-of-the-art temporary pool in addition to the three existing competition pools, the Olympic swimmers of 2012 will have the ability to prepare on their own terms rather than in tightly crammed warm-up pools.

Being a San Francisco Bay Area Native and a Cal Berkeley graduate, I believe that the athletes and spectators of the world will be awed by the spectacular facilities, easy accessibility to public transportation and the Olympic Village, and the unique pleasure that stems from competing or viewing races in an open-air venue with the sun shining brightly!”

-Matt Biondi, 1984, 1988 & 1992, Swimming, 9-time Gold Medalist