Saturday, April 16, 2022

LEN sets up specialised projects division and prepares Member Federation survey to grow Aquatics as a Sport for All, which Embraces All

 


In their first 100 days in office, the new LEN Bureau has been working hard on one of the key pillars of change, Aquatics for All, which takes the organisation beyond elite athlete performance and into areas of inclusion which bring added value to society.

To acknowledge the vital importance of this project, the LEN President himself is one of the Bureau Liaisons.

“In this new chapter for LEN we want to prioritise and promote Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes to build a sport for all, which embraces all! We are also keen to hear from our Member Federations so that we can learn and develop together.”

President Silva, is currently touring Europe with Vice-President Josip Varvodic and FINA President Husain Al Musallam specifically to meet, and learn from, LEN Member Federations.

“One of the key discussion points has been how to encourage more people to get involved in our sport, and how we can use it as a force for good,” said Silva. “We have big plans for the coming months, including the launch of a survey for all Member Federations to help us work collaboratively together to grow a sport for all.”

LEN has already made some good progress across the following areas:

Within the first 100 days of the election on February 5, many key actions have been achieved:

A Specialised Projects Commission has been created to oversee progress in this area. There will be three provisory sub-commissions that will be responsible for specific areas:

Education: athletes, coaches, officials, and future leaders

Para-Swimming movement inclusion

Learn to Swim/Swimming Dropout and gender equity

It has been a busy couple of months already and progress has been made by each of the commissions:

LEN has already had productive meetings with both the Para-Swimming movement and with the International Paralympic Committee

There have also been conversations with the European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI) who will support LEN by facilitating a European Learn to Swim and Swimming Dropout Congress in the future. The purpose of these Congresses is to share knowledge and learnings from Member Federations about the challenges and solutions that they have found.

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