By Gary Anderson

January 28 - The Pieter van den Hoogenband Stadium in Eindhoven will host the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships in August ©Getty Images The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) today announced the Pieter van den Hoogenband Stadium in Eindhoven will play host to this year's Swimming European Championships from August 4 to 10.

Around 500 swimmers from nearly 40 countries are expected to descend on the Dutch city, which hosted the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships at the same venue.

Among those expected to the pool in Eindhoven will be a host of Olympic and world champions, including Britain's Eleanor Simmonds and Russian duo Oleysa Vladykina and Oxana Savchenko.

On the men's side, home fans will be looking to rising star Marc Evers to deliver after claiming a gold and bronze medal at London 2012 before following that up with three world titles at last year's World Championships in Montreal.

The 22-year-old has fond memories of the Pieter van den Hoogenband Stadium after claiming his first international medal at the 2010 World Championships, securing bronze in the 100 metres backstroke.

Dutchman Marc Evers will be one of the home stars looking to impress in Eindhoven at the IPC Swimming European Championships ©Getty Images Dutchman Marc Evers will be one of the home stars looking to impress in Eindhoven at the IPC Swimming European Championships ©Getty Images
























"We are happy to welcome the athletes, staff and fans from all over Europe [to] Eindhoven this summer," said Erik van Heijningen, President of the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation.

"Dutch Paralympic swimmers have been very successful and it is wonderful for them to compete on an international level in their own country.

"We expect a lot of 'Orange fans' to support them."

Evers took two European titles last time out in Berlin in 2011, and was one 440 athletes who took part in the Championships, making them the largest to date.

A total of 59 European records and 31 world records were set in the German capital.

The Ukraine emerged as the leading nation with 105 medals ahead of Britain on 83 and Spain on 57.

The star of the Championships was undoubtedly the Ukraine's Yevheniy Bohodayko who contributed eight gold and two silver to his country's medal haul.

The double Olympic champion also broke the world record in the SB6 100 metres breaststroke and set European records in the S6 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly.

Ukrainian Yevheniy Bohodayko has eight European titles to defend in Eindhoven ©AFP/Getty ImagesUkrainian Yevheniy Bohodayko has eight European titles to defend in Eindhoven ©AFP/Getty Images
























Bohodayko and his teammates will be confident of topping the medal table once again as the Ukraine also emerged as the top nation in Eindhoven, finishing with 21 gold medals ahead of the United States and Russia.

"We are delighted that Eindhoven will be the venue for the prestigious 2014 European Championships and are pleased to be working with them again to organise a major championships," said IPC chief executive Xavier Gonzalez.

"The pool has long been a top-quality destination for elite-level swimming competitions and we are glad to be able to continue that legacy.

"We expect competition to be fierce ahead of the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow and following on from the last Euros in Berlin, where 31 out of the 36 participating countries took home at least one medal."

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