The Seoul city government has made a bid to host the 2013 World Swimming Championships.

The city government will set up a bid committee next month and appoint swimming sensation Park Tae-hwan as a goodwill ambassador for the bid.

Seoul will compete with other bidders like San Francisco in the U.S., Qatar’s Doha and South Africa’s Durban.

Launched in 1937, the international swimming event is held every two years. Rome will host the championships next year, while the 2011 event will be held in Shanghai.