Greek Swimming Federation Postpones Events In Wake Of Country’s Financial Crisis

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

The crumbling Greek economy, which has resulted in banks closing and the country defaulting on international loans, will affect aquatic sports this weekend as the country looks for ways to recover from the crisis.

The Hellenic Swimming Federation, which oversees all aquatic sports in Greece, announced that four aquatic sports events this weekend are postponed. It’s part of a mandate by Deputy Minister of Sports Stavros Kontonis that is “suspending” athletic events this weekend. Greek voters will go to the polls on Sunday to vote on a bailout package for the country that could also decide its place in the European Union, and Kontonis’ decision is likely an effort to ensure those of voting age have no previous engagements to keep them from voting.

One synchronized swimming event and three national water polo tournaments were set for this weekend:

Synchronized swimming national championships (July 3-5)
Junior girls water polo national championship (July 2-4)
Men’s youth water polo national championship (July 1-4)
Women’s water polo national championship, preliminaries (July 3-4)

Today, the federation announced that the men’s youth water polo tournament is now scheduled for July 9-12 in Athens. The remaining three competitions are still looking for new dates.

This weekend’s Mediterranean Swimming Cup in Alexandroupolis was also set to be postponed, according to an announcement on the Greek swimming federation’s website on Tuesday. But today, the Hellenic Swimming Federation said the Mediterranean Swimming Cup is a go, set to begin Saturday with young athletes from 11 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, as well as Belgium. Italy dominated the 2014 edition in Israel, winning the male, female and overall point standings.

The country’s elite swimmers are traveling to two meets in Europe this weekend to continue racing preparation for the world championships. NCAA champion Kristian Gkolomeev is one of four Greeks racing in the French Open in Vichy, while three others are in Croatia for the Golden Bear tournament. The federation is also sending 13 athletes to the Serbian junior national championships in Vojvodina.

Swimming World has asked for comment from the Hellenic Swimming Federation regarding the status of sending athletes to the world championships in light of Greece’s financial woes, but has not received a reply.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use