NEWS

Today the Kazan International Airport welcomed first participants of the 16th FINA World Championships. Synchro swimmers from Team Australia arrived in the host city earlier than the rest. 15 athletes make the team from the Green Continent.

Seven days are left to go until the start of the Championships and the team of volunteers selected from among Kazan candidates has already been accredited, provided with uniforms and trained. The majority of them have started their shifts today. The volunteer programme draws to a close and in the days to come the Kazan volunteers will be joined by their colleagues from 20 regions of Russia and 10 foreign countries. The major task for volunteers in the coming month is to provide qualified assistance to the Championships OC in the delivery of the World Aquatics Championships.

One week before the start of the 16th FINA World Championships, the host city welcomes the officials of the International Swimming Federation (FINA). Dr. Julio C. Maglione, FINA President, arrived in Kazan tonight, meanwhile the plane with FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu aboard landed at the Kazan International Airport the night before.

Preparation of the 16th FINA World Championships sports venues and cultural programme is coming to its logical end. Deputy Director General of the Executive Directorate for Sports Projects, Mikhail Zotov, talked about this during a press conference at the Tatar-inform Information Agency.

Secretary General of the Executive Directorate for Sports Project, Ranko Tepavcevic, who is responsible for the preparation of sports venues for the upcoming FINA World Championships, sat down for an interview in which he explained why Kazan is able to bid to host sporting events of any kind and what is so special about sports facilities built for the forthcoming World Aquatics Championships.