LEN, the leading body for aquatic sports in Europe has released the results of a survey conducted on athletes across the organization on the effects of coronavirus closures.
According to the press release, “The LEN Office has conducted a survey among its National Federations on pool openings, the currently applied restrictions at training and on plans to hold competitions.”
The results show that most elite swimmers across Europe currently have access to pools and are able to train. Additionally, many divers and artistic swimmers are also able to resume their training, though not in the same capacity as swimmers.
The biggest exceptions to this come from Scotland and Wales, which have not allowed pools to reopen under their current guidelines.
Overall, the survey reveals that the sport currently having the most restrictions is water polo, which has only resumed in countries with the most elite programs.
Speaking to the positive trends shown in the survey, LEN President Paolo Barelli said, “We are happy to see that life returns to the pools around Europe and more and more athletes are allowed to resume their training.”
“Europe has always been famous for having fully committed athletes, coaches, and federations with utmost professionalism, and this guarantees that our continent will bounce back after this extraordinary period. European Aquatics is the leading force in our sport and LEN will do its utmost to maintain this position by offering any possible support for our federations.”
Most officials within the organization say that despite these positive trends, competition most likely won’t be able to resume until August at the earliest.
LEN is responsible for hosting the European Aquatics Championships, which are currently set to begin next May in Budapest, Hungary. The championships is one of the largest meets in Europe, holding events for swimming, diving, and artistic swimming. Water polo has its own separate championships that is set to begin in late autumn.