Европейская водная федерация отметила столетие в Париже перед чемпионатом 2026 года

The year 2027 will mark the centenary of European Aquatics, and to celebrate, the organization held a Centenary Celebration in Paris ahead of the 2026 European Swimming Championships. In Paris, 1,100 athletes competed at the European Championships in swimming, diving, open-water, and artistic swimming. In a release detailing the celebration, European Aquatics President Antonio Silva shared what the 100-year mark means for the organization and what to look forward to over the next year of celebration. We just travelled through a century of extraordinary memories. We saw remarkable athletes, historic championships and great victories – but also generations of coaches, officials, volunteers and organisers who built the organisation we proudly represent today. But our Centenary is about much more than looking back. Our Centenary programme is built around four pillars. We will celebrate our Aquatic Identity and Heritage. We will strengthen Social Engagement, Participation, Safety and Inclusion. We will embrace Digital Innovation and Fan Engagement. And we will demonstrate global leadership, while creating a lasting legacy that reaches far beyond 2027. Because European Aquatics today is much more than an organiser of outstanding championships. We are educators and innovators and partners in public health. We promote participation, inclusion and safety. And we are a community united by our beliefs. That is why this Centenary belongs to everyone. European Aquatics was officially founded on August 30, 1927, in Bologna, Italy, despite having held the first European Championships a year earlier in Budapest, Hungary; a meet that only featured men’s swimming, men’s diving, and men’s water polo. In the founding year of 2027, women were permitted to compete for the first time at the 2nd European Championships. It was not until 1974 that Artistic Swimming made its debut at the European Championships. In 1991, the first iteration of what we now know as the European Short Course Swimming Championships, then called the European Sprint Swimming Championships, took place. In 2023, the organization rebranded, moving away from the LEN acronym (Ligue Européenne de Natation) to its current name, European Aquatics.