Funchal, Madeira Island, has been chosen to host the 2020 European Para-Swimming Open Championships. The island off the coast of Portugal will host one of the last major international competitions before the 2020 Paralympic Games.
- Dates: May 17th-23rd, 2019.
- Location: Ponteada Olympic Swimming Complex
Home to the 2016 European Para-Swimming Open Championships in light of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Madeira will serve as a test point for European para-swimmers once again as it is the last international championship prior to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The international federation for para-swimming, World Para-Swimming (WPS), has been organizing European Championships since the year 2009, where the first event took place in Reykjavik, Iceland. The last edition took place in Dublin in 2018. There, Ukraine led the medals table by winning 106 of the 458 medals handed out, including 33 of 154 golds.
The early decision for Madeira to host the championship in 2020 comes after some controversies involving the initial host for the 2019 WPS World Championships. Malaysia had denied visas to Israeli athletes as a result of some controversies related to religion. After Malaysia was stripped from organizing the championship last January, a new host city wasn’t announced until April.
London, England, will host this year’s WPS World Championships between September 9 and September 15, 2019. Malaysia was scheduled to host the meet between July 29 and August 4, 2019, which produced a delay of nearly a month and a half.
According to WPS, nearly 500 athletes from over 50 different countries are expected to take part at next year’s European Para-Swimming Open Championships.