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Perth has officially been named the host city for the World University Match Racing Championships in 2016 by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).

The hosting duties will be a joint partnership between Australian University Sport (AUS) and the University of Western Australia (UWA), in which student sailors from all over the world battle it out on the waters of the Swan River.

Australia has hosted World University Championship events in the past, but 2016 will be the first year the Match Racing Championship will be held in the southern hemisphere since its inception in 1999. September 2016 will be a busy month for Perth, as it is also the host city for the annual multisport event, the Australian University Games in the same month.

UWA Sport and Recreation Association (UWA Sports) Executive Director Bruce Meakins is very pleased with the outcome.

"Perth has a long tradition of sailing excellence and is the home to an emerging generation of young talented sailors. With its proximity to Asia, being situated on the Indian Ocean rim, hosting the championships also bears a great opportunity for UWA to build lasting relationships with this vastly growing region."

AUS CEO Don Knapp is also extremely pleased with the success of the joint bid submitted by AUS and UWA and remarked on the merits of the destination as well as the strength of the sailing talent currently being developed in Perth and UWA in particular.

"We are thrilled to win the right to stage this prestigious World University Championship event in Perth, which of course is one of the great sailing destinations of the world. This is a great coup for university sailing to secure this event off the back off of the two Australian men's crews taking out the gold and silver medals at the 2012 event in France. No doubt Sam Gilmour, the gold-medal-winning skipper from UWA will be gunning for a repeat result on his home turf in 2016" stated AUS CEO Don Knapp.

For more information about match racing visit www.fisu.net

Media references

Nicole West (UWA Sports, Marketing and Communications Officer( (+61 8) 6488 4309