Singapore will host the 7th Asian Swimming Championships in March this year with the participation of more than 200 players from some 20 Asian countries and regions.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Jeffrey Leow, Chairman of the Championships, said that Singapore is extremely honored to be given the opportunity to host the prestigious event and its goal as organizers is to set the benchmark for all future championships.

"We are aiming to get the top swimmers from Asia to compete in the championships and are looking to confirm with the swimming associations from each participating country as soon as possible," said Leow.

A total of 16 countries and regions have confirmed their participation and the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) is expecting confirmation from more countries before the deadline of Feb. 15.

China will send a delegation of about 40 players, he said, adding the rest countries and regions are Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Kyrgyztan, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Syria,Thailand, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates and China's Hong Kong.

Organized by the SSA and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), the event will be held from March 5 to 10 at the Singapore Sports School. In addition, a synchronized swimming competition from March 6-9 will also be part of the event.

The Asian Swimming Championships is a quadrennial event held under the auspices of the Asia Swimming Federation (AASF), and the inaugural Championships was held in 1980 in Dacca, Bangladesh.

Source: Xinhua