In a lengthy newsletter, the European Aquatics Association provided a comprehensive review of their activities.
This section provides a round-up of European aquatics performances at the Olympic Games in Paris, and updates concerning water polo competitions and clinics.
Olympic Games
European athletes took the following number of medals in each sport:
- Swimming: 105 medals total, Europe took 33 (31.4%) – 14 Gold, 8 Silver, 11 Bronze
- Open Water: 6 medals total, Europe took 5 (83.3%) – 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze
- Water Polo: 6 medals total, Europe took 4 (66.7%) – 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
- Diving: 24 medals total, Europe took 5 (20.8%) – 1 Silver, 4 Bronze
- Artistic Swimming: 6 medals total, Europe took 3 (50%) – 1 Silver, 2 Bronzes
- France’s Leon Marchand won the most gold medals of any athlete at the Games with four
– taking three Olympic records in the process. - Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen took the Olympic record in the Men’s 800m Freestyle as he took Ireland’s only swimming gold.
- Sarah Sjoström set the Olympic record in the Women’s 50m Freestyle, as she took two gold medals at the Games.
- Great Britain were the most successful European nation with ten medals, while France’s four golds from Marchand saw them take the top-step of the podium the most times.
- Serbia took their third Men’s Water Polo title in a row – something which has only been done twice before
European Aquatics U19 Women Water Polo Championships Zagreb 2024
- The last week of August was busy with the Women’s U19 competition that is played from the 24 – 31 August 2024 in Zagreb, at the SP Mladost Pool.
- The following 16 Teams were competing: Bulgaria, Croatia (host), France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Türkiye, and Ukraine.
- As part of our ongoing digital transformation, European Aquatics ensured that the Championships was live streamed on our OTT Channel with live results available on the EURO AQUA App at http://www.euroaquaticstv.com/
- The Men’s competition in Burgas (BUL) will start immediately after the women’s, event, taking place from 1 – 7 September 2024.
- The best 16 teams fighting it out for the title are: Bulgaria (host), Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Serbia, and Türkiye.
Water Polo Club Competitions
- The registration process for the Club competition season has finished. This year we have a record of 117 participating clubs from 26 Countries (compared to 112 last year) with Champions League Women increasing from 24 to 30 teams:
-Champions League Men – 30 Clubs
-Champions League Women – 30 Clubs
-Euro Cup Men – 24 Clubs
-Challenger Cup Men – 16 Clubs
-Challenger Cup Women – 17 Clubs - The first draw of the season was held on 13 August in Zagreb, and it was streamed online via European Aquatics YouTube Channel. The Champions League Men Group stage and Qualification round groups have been drawn, and the Qualification round of Champions League Women has as well.
- The 12 Champions League Men Wild Card Teams are directly qualified for the Group stage, and the rest of 24 Teams will play the Qualification round, that will be held from (12)13-15 September 2024. The host Clubs of these tournaments will be in the “Further Updates” section.
- The Qualification round for the Champions League Women competition will be played from 3 – 6 October 2024, with the record number of participating Clubs.
Five teams, by the official ranking and the Winner of previous Champions League Women are already qualified into the Group stage, and the rest of 25 teams, drawn in five groups of five will play in the locations stated in the “Further Updates” section.
Water Polo Technical Meetings and Clinic
- The first in-person meeting of the new Technical Water Polo Committee members took place in Zagreb from August 26 to 28, 2024, during the U19 Women EWPC 24 competition. Further details on the meeting can be found in the “Further Updates“ section under “TWPC“.
- European Aquatics will hold the Water Polo Technical Officials Education Clinic for Referees and Delegates 2024 – the first Clinic for this season to provide clarity of the new structure of European Aquatics Water Polo, particularly in respect of the new composition of the Technical Water Polo Committee. It will be held from 6-8 September in Zagreb, Croatia.
- The Clinic will also present the latest instructions and applications of the Water Polo Rules which need to be applied during the competition season 2024/2025. The Clinic will be organised by European Aquatics, in partnership with the Croatian Water Polo Federation (HVS).
- More than 200 Delegates and Referees have been applied to participate in the Clinic, in presence or following online. The official lecturers for this Clinic are: Andy Hoepelman, EA DRC Chairman; Boris Margeta, International WA and EA Referee, WWR President; Stavroula Kozompoli, EA DRC Member, WA TWPC Secretary; Dejan Perisic, Manager for Technical Officials Water Polo.
Governance, Corporate and Development Topics
This section provides updates from the European Aquatics working groups and bureaus, diplomatic visits, and office-related news.
Development
- European Aquatics Academy: Inputs from the Officials Commissions from all aquatic disciplines are now being considered to conclude the first part of the courses’ contents and certification process. European Aquatics launched the information for the Officials Clinics of Water Polo and Artistic Swimming that will be organized in Zagreb and Tavira, respectively.
- The European Aquatics Academy, after receiving suggestions and insights from National Federations, is now finalizing information regarding the certification and accreditation process of coaches for all aquatic disciplines, especially regarding the Recognition of Prior Award (RPA) and the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
- Details announced for European Aquatics Artistic Swimming Clinic 2024
- European Aquatics announces Water Polo Technical Officials Clinic 2024
- The European Aquatics Academy is also working with ASR representatives to prepare various actions connected to the EA Congress and DEI Conference (Belfast, 26-28 September 2024).
- Aquatics Social Responsibility: European Aquatics has officially signed with the Sports for Nature framework to become a signatory to the organisation. The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday, August 7, at Club France in Paris, during the “Sports for Nature. Stronger Together” event.
- European Aquatics is also committed to enhancing sustainable development within all its operational activities and especially at events, where it will work closely with organising committees to ensure sustainability principles are closely followed.
European Aquatics Executive Director Patrice Coste left European Aquatics, by mutual consent, on August 15, 2024. His executive duties are being assumed by the Officers and the Deputy Executive Director Gianni Minervini whose title will now be Acting Executive Director.
- Kirill Haller Goncharov, a German citizen based in Switzerland, has been appointed as Marketing Lead for European Aquatics and started work on 15 August.
- Daniel Silva was appointed as Admin and Accounting Coordinator, joining the organization on 1 August.
- On 27 August, European Aquatics announced it was seeking a new Assistant to join the Aquatics’ Sport team (covering all disciplines except Water Polo.)
- For more information, please see LEN Job Offers – European Aquatics®. The “Further Updates” section has more information on interim arrangements.
European Aquatics held a Bureau meeting on 15 August (online) to finalise preparations for the upcoming Congress and Diversity Equity and Inclusion Conference, which will take place in Belfast from September 27-28.
- A positive follow up meeting was held with representatives of the European Federations of Athletics and Gymnastics on 7 August in Paris to discuss areas of co- operation.
- President Silva travelled to Budapest in August to meet representatives of new partner EPAM to discuss ways to create
a global aquatic management ecosystem, including a European Aquatics event management system, with integration of all data (our data hub) and other opportunities to create special “out of the box” projects to generate revenue. - At the Olympic Games in Paris, President Antonio Silva held a meeting with the President of the Slovak Republic, Peter Pellegrini, his Minister of Sport and Tourism, Dusan Keketi and Ivana Walterova Lange, the executive director for the Slovak Swimming Federation, to discuss development matters and the opportunities to host Junior and U23 championship in Slovakia in 2025.
- European Aquatics has approved a new educational project to support national federations. This aims to help federations to evaluate and train staff and managers based on a transparency index which has been developed with the support of our partner SIGA.
- European Sport Federations Meeting: European Aquatics leaders,
represented by President Antonio Silva, first Vice President Josip Varvodic and General Secretary Noam Zwi met counterparts from Athletics and Gymnastics at a meeting on 7 August in Paris. The European Athletics Federation was represented by President Dobromir Karamarinov and Executive Director Christian Milz while President Farid Gayibov and Executive Director Lisa Worthmann represented their counterparts in Gymnastics. The group agreed to study co-ordination of championship timetables for 2026, 2028 and 2030. - President Silva and Vice President Erkan Yalcin held a meeting on 5 August with the Minister of Sports for Türkiye , Osman Askin Bak to discuss the possibility of future host bids.
- On 6 August, President Silva discussed matters related to the postponed Kazan European Aquatics Championships, with the minister of the Tatarstan region Vladimir Leonov.
- European Aquatics has now confirmed detailed requirements for countries interested in hosting the European Aquatics Office HQ. For more information, please click here and contact the Acting Executive
Director: [email protected]. - European Aquatics has signed a contract with Nyon Sports, a Swiss based sports rights, TV production and consultancy company, to exploit the media rights for the upcoming season of Men’s Champions League, the world’s leading Water Polo club competition.
Further Updates
This section contains more information about technical meetings, and competition formats.
- The Women’s Champions League Qualification hosts are below:
Group A – Panionios GSS – Athens (GRE) Group B – Polar Bears – Ede (NED)
Group C – Antenore Plebiscito Padova – Padova (ITA) Group D – Digi Eger – Eger (HUN)
Group E – Spandau 04 – Berlin (GER)
- The Men’s Champions League Qualification groups are below:
Group A – VK Jug Adriatic Osiguranje – Dubrovnik (CRO) Group B – SPD Radnicki – Kragujevac (SRB)
Group C – C.S.M. Oradea-Oradea (ROU)
Group D – Astralpool CN Sabadell – Sabadell (ESP) - Technical Water Polo Committee: The first physical meeting of the new committee took place in Zagreb on 27 August and was very fruitful, with full attendance from all TWPC members, along with representatives from the new Delegates and Referees Committee, the Water Polo Clubs Committee, and Yasemin Smit, representing water polo players.
A wide range of topics were discussed, particularly focusing on the structure and tasks of the new members, collaboration with the Delegates and Referees Committee and the Water Polo Clubs Committee and ensuring that the voices of athletes and coaches are included when making crucial decisions for the future of water polo. In line with the Water Polo Action Plan, part of the Global European Aquatics Strategic Plan, other key topics such as development, digitalization, infrastructure, marketing, and sponsorship were also covered.
Water Polo Super Cup dates and start times confirmed:
The men’s match will be held on 5 October in Budapest between winners of the Champions League and Euro Cup. The Women’s competition takes place on 18 October.
Men – 5 October
FTC-Telekom (HUN) v Jug Adriatic Osiguranje (CRO), 20.00 CET
Women – 18 October
Astralpool CN Sabadell (ESP) v Plebiscito Padova (ITA), 19:00
