PRESIDENTIAL MONTHLY REPORT August/September 2013

Paolo Barelli President

LEN Activity speeds up as the new season approaches and further LEN Events are always around the corner.

The European open water swimmers, divers, synchronised swimmers and water polo players have competed with distinction at the highest level in all the events in Barcelona from 19th July to August 4th. We will continue to work hard for our athletes who demonstrate their passion and dedication for the sport and achieve excellent results following years of hard work. They are our role models and we thank them for taking European Aquatics to new heights. Our Member Federations’ dedicated contribution to our progress is fundamental to our success. Thank you all on behalf of LEN.

OPEN WATER SWIMMING

• The 4th leg of the Open Water Swimming Cup in Hoorn (NED) on 3rd August, the 5th Leg in Navia (ESP) on 10th August and the Cup Final in Hamburg (GER) on the 17th and 18th of August showed the strong Open Water Swimming tradition of Germany with many of their athletes ranked in the top 5. Andreas Waschburger (GER) won the men’s trophy and Anna Olasz (HUN) won women’s trophy.

WATER POLO

• The Draw for the qualification round of the new Champions League 2013-2014 was held at the LEN Office in Luxembourg on August 22nd and the draw for the preliminary round of the Women’s Euro League was held at the same venue on September 16th. The Champions League commences with two qualification rounds in Italy and Serbia in September (27th to 29th) and the Women’s Euro League will commence in November. PRESIDENTIAL MONTHLY REPORT August/September 2013

The Euro Cup will begin in October following the completion of the first two rounds of the Champions League. We look forward to a new exciting club water polo season.

• A meeting was held in Rome on August 28th with the representatives of the 8 clubs who received a wild card for the new Champions League competition. A new marketing strategy, TV rights and organisational issues were discussed.

• From September 1st to 8th the junior water polo women battled it out in the Turkish city of Istanbul for the title of European Junior Champion. All thirteen teams offered their best performance with the Greek team proving to be a step above the rest, confirming the Greek senior team will soon be reinforced by a strong new group of players.

• The Men’s European Junior Water Polo Championship in Malta (MLT) was held from September 8th to 15th. The Maltese Swimming Association delivered an excellent event as always. The event was a great success and the Montenegrin team came through the final with Serbia to win the title for the first time in this age category.

MASTERS

• The European Masters Championships in Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming and Open Water Swimming were held in Eindhoven (NED) from the 31st August to the 7th of September. The Royal Dutch Swimming Federation and the Organising Committee delivered an excellent event for over 5,000 passionate competitors which made this event the biggest in Europe in 2013. We congratulate the organisers, all participants for their superb performances, and the Masters Committee for their dedication and hard work.

LEN General Secretary, David Sparkes attended the 125th Anniversary of the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation on Sunday 8th September. It was a great pleasure that LEN could be part of the celebration of an important National Federation who has been extremely active in the organisation of LEN events over the past decades.

PRESIDENTIAL MONTHLY REPORT August/September 2013

MEETINGS • There were several meetings regarding European activity during the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.

• The LEN President met a representative of the Swiss Federation on 1st August to discuss a potential bid for the European Short Course Championships in either 2017 or 2018. During the meeting we also confirmed the allocation of the Junior Open Water Championships in 2015 to the Swiss Federation.

• A meeting was held with Omega on 2nd August to try to reach an agreement for the Short Course and Long Course Swimming Championships.

• A site visit to Herning to check the event organization was held on 4th and 5th September. Marco Birri, David Rouger and Sören Korbo met the OC representatives to review the technical and organisational aspects of the event. In the report they confirmed their entire satisfaction with the outstanding venue, the high level TV production and the overall organisation.

• During the IOC Session in Buenos Aires on 6th-10th September, LEN President met the Minister of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr Azad Rahimov along with many other EOC representatives, to finalise a number of important details. The Euro Games Organising Committee is providing significant economic support to the 51 LEN affiliated Federations by offering free accommodation for up to 1200 European athletes for the duration of the event plus their travel expenses. In addition LEN will receive an outstanding financial contribution.

Paulo Frischknecht and Marco Birri had a very positive site visit to Baku on 13th September. During the meeting with the OC representatives a first draft of the competition programme (using 4 swimming pools) was finalised. Many other technical and organisational aspects were dealt with in detail, including a site visit to the event village.

• On August 31st Carlos Ramos, LEN Assistant Director, left the organisation after 7 years of work and commitment. LEN recognizes and pays tribute to his dedication during this period.

PRESIDENTIAL MONTHLY REPORT August/September 2013

To conclude our activities, during September, LEN came together at our Congress and Calendar Conference in Edinburgh (GBR) on September 27th and 28th. The Calendar Conference and the Bureau Meeting were held on the first day during which it was announced that the organiser of the European Junior Swimming Championships 2017 would be Netanya (ISR).

During the Congress, the President expressed his pleasure of being in Edinburgh, the birthplace of Water Polo. He outlined the challenges that he and the officers had faced during a very busy year since taking up the leadership in LEN in Cascais (POR) 12 months ago.

This was followed by a detailed presentation addressing how he has led LEN through many challenges in what is still a difficult economic period for Europe. He reaffirmed to delegates that he remains optimistic for the future for LEN and with its new partnership with FINA.

“LEN is now working in total harmony with FINA, and I am keen to continue this fruitful cooperation, ensuring the success of all aquatic disciplines and I would wish to record particularly my appreciation of President Julio Maglione’s leadership and the excellent collaboration we have with the FINA Office, conducted with professionalism by the Executive Director Cornel Marculescu. LEN is now in a new and stronger partnership with FINA,” the President said.

PRESIDENTIAL MONTHLY REPORT August/September 2013

The President informed the Congress of the Bureau’s decision to appoint Paulo Frischknecht as the next LEN Executive Director with effect from the 1st October 2013 who would step down as a LEN Bureau member following Congress. Paulo gave a brief address to Congress setting out his wish to serve LEN fully and to work with the Bureau to further develop LEN’s activities.

LEN’s latest activity report was presented and approved by those in attendance, and LEN Treasurer, Tamas Gyarfas presented the financial report which was also approved. We were among many friends and guests in Edinburgh and we had the opportunity to hear Dr Margo Mountjoy, FINA Bureau Member from Canada, as she offered us an interesting lecture and insight into the very important and complex subject of medical services to our athletes to support their competitive activities.

It was a pleasure to be hosted by Edinburgh and British Swimming, and on behalf of us all, I thank all those who worked so well to make the Congress a success.

Paolo Barelli President