The UAE will host the 9th Asian Swimming Championships from November 15-25 in Dubai.

This will be the first time that all four disciplines of swimming (50m pool), synchronised swimming, water polo and diving will be contested in one competition in one venue in the UAE.

This is the third major international event to be held at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex in just over a month, after the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup on October 2-3 and the 1st International Water Polo and Synchronised Swimming Championships on  October 11-13.

"This is also the first time the Asian Swimming Championships have been held in this format of all four disciplines in one event and one venue, and we are delighted that Dubai has been honoured with this responsibility. We look forward to welcoming over 700 athletes from 23 member nations for what will be a truly memorable 11 days," Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council and Chairman of the Organising Committee Dr Ahmad Al Sharif said.

"We are delighted that among the entries are Olympians and Olympic champions across the four disciplines," he added.

The championships will be a qualifying event for the FINA Swimming World Championships in July 2013.  China, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia are among the 23 countries competing.

The men's water polo competition will include 2012 Olympians Kazakhstan, and the Kuwaiti national team which performed well against top European clubs at the recent 1st International Water Polo and Synchronised Swimming Competition in Dubai.

The synchronised swimming will be particularly exciting with the Olympic bronze medalist China up against fifth-placed Japan and 12th-placed Korea.
In  diving, the Chinese team thrill the crowds again, as they did at the FINA Midea Diving World Series held in Dubai in March this year.

The Malaysian diving team, which took a bronze and four other top 10 finishes at the Olympics, is expected to push them hard.