Staging of FINA events in Kazan discussed at FWAC in Canada

A number of FINA international swimming federation events are currently taking place in the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario. On 6 December, the FINA World Swimming Championships will start. On the eve of this event, the FINA Bureau Meeting took place, as well as the FINA World Aquatics Convention (FWAC) (3-5 December), and FINA Gala ceremony.

Participants of the Bureau scrutinised the strategic issues of development of FINA and water sports, took into consideration the results of the FINA World Championships in Kazan and the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. These issues are particularly topical in the run-up to the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, which will take place from 14 to 30 July (on 22 July, the next FINA Congress will take place).

In Windsor, an exhibition also opened, traditionally represented by partners and suppliers of FINA, and organisers of past and upcoming FINA events. At the display booth of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects, exhibiton attendees can learn about the legacy of the Kazan World Championships 2015 and new opportunities for the development of water sports that have emerged here thanks to the sports infrastructure.

Workshops for coaches and doctors of the teams were held as part of the convention. The participants discussed modern training methods using IT technology, unique training methodology and rehabilitation of athletes after exertion, as well as questions on the global fight against doping.

During the convention, the organisers of three events (Kazan, Windsor, Budapest) presented their concept as part of the 'Legacy of FINA Events' session. The legacy that the 2013 Summer Universiade left for Kazan is incredible: sports venues, the Athletes' Village, sports equipment for sports schools, volunteer programme and a professional team. The experience of using the Athletes' Village as a place of compact accommodation for athletes is recognised as unique.

The results of the 2015 FINA World Championships were an increase in the number of people undertaking water sports, regular FINA tournaments in Kazan, an inflow of tourists, a positive image of Kazan in the eyes of the world and impressions of participants, who have shared their memories of Kazan in Windsor. A particularly important fact for FINA was that Kazan retained the World Championships pools and transferred them for permanent use by the younger generation. The FINA management expressed appreciation for this to President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov.

Interestingly, all concepts of the World Championship were different: for Budapest, the key point was the construction of a water sports complex and a successful 2024 Olympic bid, for Windsor, it was contrsuction of a 25-metre training pool and renovation of the hockey palace, where the tournament is being staged.

The FINA Gala ceremony traditionally saw best coaches and athletes being awarded, including the celebrated Russian synchronised swimmers Natalya Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina, and their coach, Tatyana Danchenko. And Michael Phelps was recognised as the 'Aquatic Legend, the Greatest of All Time'.

Director of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects, Azat Kadyrov, met with FINA executives (staging of FINA events in Kazan in 2017-2022 were discussed) and the Organising Committees of the FINA World Championships in Budapest and Gwangju (cooperation and exchange of best practices in the build-up to the 2017 and 2019 World Championships were discussed).