A record 48 nations comprising 566 athletes are set to compete at the European Junior Championships in Rome.
The meet will take place at the Foro Italico, the iconic venue that staged the 2009 World Championships and plays host to the annual Sette Colli, from 6-11 July.
The competition will follow strict covid protocols with restricted movement and regualr testing in the bubble concept that has been practised on several occasions.
The last continental junior showcase was held in Kazan, Russia, in July 2019 where the likes of Matt Richards, Andrei Minakov, Leon Marchand and Ilya Borodin were among the boys’ medallists.
Benedetta Pilato, Evgeniia Chikunova and Anastasia Gorbenko, who made the podium in the girls’ competition, all head to Tokyo later this month.
Russia headed the medal table as it has done every years ince 2012.
LEN president Paolo Barelli said through the governing body:
“The success of the European Aquatics Championships this May in Budapest was a clear demonstration that it is possible to organise a Covid-free competition during the pandemic even with several thousand people inside the so-called bubble.
“It was inevitable that LEN would give back the chance for our age-group athletes to show themselves at our continental showcases. In 2020, we had to cancel all events, which was sad news for all young competitors – and it would have been terrible to do the same for 2021.
“It might have meant that a generation of talented swimmers should begin their respective senior careers without competing at junior European Championships.”
He added:
“We are the only continent where junior championships are held annually in each discipline – that gives our young athletes an outstanding advantage during their formative years, and we want to keep that edge in the long-term.”
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