THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANTWERP, Belgium — The European swimming championships will be held in Debrecen, Hungary, after being moved Thursday from the Belgian city of Antwerp because of budget problems.
Antwerp organizer Georges Straetemans, who is also vice chairman of the technical committee of the European swimming federation, said he could not bridge a financial shortfall of more than C400,000 ($525,000).
Hungarian swimming federation president Tamas Gyarfas said Debrecen can count on the experience it gained from hosting the European short-course championships five years ago.
"The swimming family returns to the same place," he said.
The championships — a major warmup for the London Olympics — will be held on the same dates as originally planned, May 21-27.
Gyarfas said the the Debrecen venue could hold 2,800 people if temporary stands are set up.
"It would have been better to organize it in a 5,000-capacity pool but that was the fastest way," Gyarfas said in a telephone interview.
Antwerp had an ambitious plan to build a temporary swimming pool in its 12,000-capacity Sports Palace, counting on huge interest since the event would be held only two months ahead of the London Games.
"After one of the financial partners stepped out, the financial gap was such that we could no longer do it," Straetemans said.
The European diving championships will be held May 15-20 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The synchronized swimming will also be held in Eindhoven, though the dates have not been set.