City a hub for sport

Anthony Radford | Bendigo Weekly | 13-Jan-2012

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SWIM TIME: Olivia Wright of the Bendigo Hawks trains for next weekend’s Victorian long-course championships. Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN. More photos at www.bendigophotos.com
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BENDIGO’S sporting scene will come alive with three major sporting championships held in the city over the next three weekends.
The events will kick off from today, with almost 2000 people, including about 450 athletes, taking part in the three-day Victorian Country Athletics Championships at the Flora Hill track.
Next weekend, more than 700 swimmers will take part in the 2010 Victorian Country Long Course Swimming Championships  at the Bendigo Aquatic Centre.
The swimming carnival runs from January 20 to 23, and is expected
to attract more than
3000 people to Bendigo.
The annual Bendigo Junior Classic basketball tournament will be held from January 26 to 28 at the Bendigo Stadium.
The event attracts more than 2600 basketballers, and more than 4500 people.
City of Greater Bendigo council City Futures director Stan Liacos said the events would provide an economic boon for the city, in what was traditionally a quiet time.
“We have certainly worked hard to separate the events to spread the economic gain,” he said.
“We try, where possible, to avoid having monster events on the same weekend.
“These three are perfect examples of when we have a delightful spread of major events.”
Mr Liacos said a lot of the participants in the events were young, which also attracted their parents to the event, and to Bendigo for a mini holiday.
“Combined, we expect more than 8000 people to spend several days each in our great city,” he said.
“This is genuine economic development and it is great for the promotion of our city.”
Mr Liacos said Bendigo was cementing its reputation as a strong host of sporting events.
“We are finding we are developing a terrific niche in the area of sporting events,” he said.
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