FINA and the Russian Federation on March 27th gathered at the Kazan Arena Stadium to unveil the official mascots for the 2015 World Championships: Itil the boy snow leopard and Alsu the girl snow leopard. In this, FINA has deviated from the trend that has developed at major European meets since the London Olympics, where federations have twice declared ‘drops of water’ to be official mascots (2013 Worlds, 2014 Euros).
Itil is the medieval name of Russia’s Volga River, which is the largest river in Europe by some measures (water discharge), and remains the river’s name in several regional languages. Alsu is ‘the common Tatar name meaning ‘pink-coloured water’ or figuratively ‘rosy cheeks’, which is strongly connected with the idea of water and healthy lifestyle.’
The designs were chosen based on a public vote, and this design was created by Anastasia Tsygina, was chosen after a week that saw 3,000 votes cast. As her prize, Tsygina will receive free admission to all of the events of the 2015 World Aquatics Championships.
The snow leopard is a breed on the brink. According to the IUCN, there’s believed to be fewer than 6,000 adult snow leopards left in the world. Most of those in the wild are living in Russia and across Central Asia.
The 2015 World Aquatics Championships run from July 24th to August 9th.
“Drops of water”??? How lazy can you get?