Head coach Alan Thompson will lead an Australian Swimming delegation on a visit to Beijing next week to inspect Olympic venues and facilities built for the 2008 Games.

Thompson will be joined by coaches and administrators in Beijing at the conclusion of the World Short Course Championships in Shanghai.

During the visit the Australians will exchange views with the Chinese Swimming Federation on training philosophy. They will inspect the Olympic Green precinct, Olympic Stadium, Olympic Aquatic facility including the open water swimming venue and the Olympic Village site.

The trip is part of a co-operation agreement signed between the Australian Olympic Committee and the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) in the lead up to the Beijing Games.

Prior to leaving Australia Thompson said, “not many of us have been to China, and certainly not been into China as a sporting team so we’re all very excited and looking forward to getting in and having a look at where we’re going to be in 2008."

The agreement between the AOC and the COC is designed to allow our athletes, coaches and team officials to visit Beijing regularly prior to the Games for get familiar with the landscape and the culture.

The AOC is urging all its member sports to take advantage of the agreement in the run up to 2008 and visit and compete in national and international competitions in Beijing, particularly Olympic test events.

As part of its Beijing funding the AOC has committed $8.2m in international competition grants designed to allow Australian athletes to compete in China and other countries as part of their Games’ preparation.

AOC