EURO LEAGUE FINAL FOUR IN BARCELONA: THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR WITH RECCO AND DUBROVNIK
Link:
LEN Final Four official Web Site
Barcelona (pps) The 12th edition of the Euro League Water Polo Final Four to take place at Montjuic Municipal Pool in Barcelona on May 9th and 10th will be a meeting of the elite European Water Polo clubs. 2005, 2006 and 2007 finalists, JUG Croatia Osiguranje Dubrovnik/CRO and Pro Recco/ITA, have once again reached the Final Four event. In 2007 the Italians won 9-8 in Milan, and in 2006 the Croats were victorious 9-7 at home.
Pro Recco, four-time champions of the European Champions Cup and the latest Final Four, will meet seven-time European Champions Cup champions HAVK Mladost Zagreb/CRO. JUG Dubrovnik, three-time European Champions Cup and Final Four champions, will play the Hungarian representative TEVA Vasas Plaket Budapest, last year’s quarter-finalist.
LEN’s Final Four has been played since 1997, but the European Champions Cup in Water Polo dates back to 1963. Mladost Zagreb are the record title holders with seven titles (most recently in 1996).
The schedule of the Final Four in Barcelona on May 9th and 10th:
Friday, May 9th:
18:00 hrs HAVK Mladost Zagreb vs Pro Recco
Referees: Borrell (ESP)- Stavridis (GRE)
19:45 hrs TEVA Vasas Plaket Budapest vs JUG Croatia Osiguranje Dubrovnik
Referees: Margeta (SLO)- Tulga (TUR)
Saturday, May 10th:
18:15 hrs Bronze medal match
20:15 hrs Final
LEN Prize money
LEN has confirmed that prize money will be awarded as follows:
1st placed Club 17.500.- €
2nd placed Club 10.000.- €
3rd placed Club 6.500.- €
4th placed Club 3.500.- €
All previous winners of the Final Four:
1997 Posillipo Naples/ITA
1998 Posillipo Naples/ITA
1999 Splitska Banka Split/CRO
2000 V.K. Becej/YUG
2001 JUG Dubrovnik/CRO
2002 Olympiakos Piraeus/GRE
2003 Pro Recco/ITA
2004 Domino Budapest/HUN
2005 Lottomatica Posillipo Naples/ITA
2006 JUG Dubrovnik/CRO
2007 Pro Recco/ITA
(May 8th, 2008)
cos-pps/geh
FIFTEEN COUNTRIES COMPETE IN ANGERS (FRA) FOR THE JUNIOR EUROPEAN SYNCRO CHAMPIONSHIPS
Link:
Angers European Synchro Junior Official Website
Angers (FRA), LEN - The French city of Angers is hosting the 2008 European Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships. 145 Athletes from seventeen countries are competing for the continental tiles of Solo, Duet, Tam and Combo. The participating countries are: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Greece, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine.
Russia is the 2007 defending champion in the Figures, Solo, Team and Combo, while the Greece duet Solomou-Ramnioti was gold in the 2007 Calella Eurojunior.
Finals will begin on May 2d, with the Combo, followed on Saturday 3 by the Figures and Team and ending on Sunday 4 with Solo and Duet.
More details on the official website of the competition: http://www.europeangers2008.com/
WOMEN CHAMPIONS CUP 2007-08 : THE WINNER IS GEYMONAT ORIZZONTE CATANIA
Link:
Women Champions Cup 2007-08 Final Four
LEN, Catania (ITA): The Winner of the Women Champions Cup 2007-08 is Geymonat Orizzonte Catania who has defeated Vouliagmeni Nautical Club (GRE) 14-13 after extra times(4-3/3-3/1-3/3-2/1-1/2-1) The winning team, coached by Giusi Malato , is composed by:
Chiara Brancati, Martina Miceli, Emanuela Zanchi, Cinzia Ragusa; Tania Di Mario, Silvia Bosurgi, Giulia Bartolini, Maddalena Musumeci, Blanca Gil Sorli, Annalisa Bosello, Roberta Scuderi, Cora Campbell, Federica Tagliaferri
In the bronze medal game FIORENTINA Waterpolo (ITA) beats ZVL OESTGEEST (NED)15 to 12
WOMEN LEN TROPHY 2007-08 - THE WINNER IS ECOFIM ROMA (ITA)
Link:
Women LEN Trophy 2007-08
Rome, LEN office - The Final for the 2007-08 edition of the Women LEN Trophy, held in Padova (ITA), was won by Ecofim Roma (ITA) , which defeated Olympiacos Piraeus 10-9 [5-4] [0-2] [3-3] [1-1] in the final played today. The final for the third and fourth place was won by OSC Budapest(HUN) over Plebiscito PADOVA (ITA) 13-7.
The Ecofim Roma team was composed by: Valentina Sabatini, Federica Radicchi, Irene Brini, Simona Abbate, Francesca Giovannangeli, Kelly Kristen Rulon, Irene Tenchini, Erszebet Valkai, Giulia Fabbri, Alexandra Araujo, Agnes Valkai,Venere Tortora ; Medea Verde; Coach: Fabio Conti.
They received the Trophy from the hands of the LEN president, Mr Bartolo Consolo. (Photo by 3F Phototeam)
With today's victory, Ecofim Roma writes for the second time in a row its name on the winners'history of the Women LEN Trophy.
Rome, LEN office - Fourteen Special Olympics swimmers from Netherlands participated in a 50-meter freestyle (females) and 50-meter freestyle (males) demonstration took place just before the start of the European Championship finals in Eindhoven, Netherlands on March 22, 2008.
Three thousand spectators watched the demonstration, which was shown live on NOS, one of the most important national television channels in the Netherlands.
After the demonstration all Special Olympics swimmers and their coaches watched the European Championship finales from the VIP section and for example saw Alain Bernard from France swimming a world record in 100-meter freestyle.
It was a unique experience for the Special Olympics swimmers and also a great opportunity for Special Olympics the Netherlands to raise awareness about its activities in Swimming. Among the audience was Minister of Sports, Ms Mariëtte Bussemaker and National Olympic Committee President, Ms. Erica Terpstra.
This demonstration was made possible through the cooperation of SOEE with LEN, the European Swimming Federation and organizers of this year's event who were more than willing to comply with LEN requirement that a Special Olympics demonstration be included int he program of European Championships. Earlier editions in Hungary and Finland were a great success for Special Olympics National Programs.
Rome, LEN Office - The Draw for both Women's LEN Trophy and Champions Cup "Final Four", to be played on 19/20 and 25/26 April respectively, took place today at the LEN office in Rome and resulted as follows:
CHAMPIONS CUP - To be played in Catania (ITA) Friday 25 April
ZVL OESTGEEST (NED) Vs. Orizzonte CATANIA (ITA) SemiFinal 1
VOULIAGMENI NC(GRE) Vs. FIORENTINA Waterpolo (ITA) SemiFinal 2
Saturday 26 April
Bronze games
LEN Champions Cup Final
LEN Trophy - Padova (ITA)
Saturday 19 April
Plebiscito PADOVA (ITA) vs. Ecofim ROMA (ITA) SemiFinal 1
Olympiakos PIRAEUS (GRE) vs. OSC BUDAPEST (HUN) SemiFinal 2
Sunday 20 April
Bronze Game
LEN Trophy Final
Eindhoven results refute all sceptics
18 European, 6 World and 279 New National Records!
Eindhoven (pps) The results of the 29th European Swimming Championships in Eindhoven refute all sceptics who had considered the Europeans would just be worth a short passing mention in the face of the large Olympic shadows of Beijing. The participating swimmers from 42 countries set 18 new European Records including six World Records, and altogether 279 National Records!
Particularly the last number mentioned is a clear indication that these European Championships have been taken seriously by the Federations as well as by the athletes despite the Olympics (or precisely because of them). In comparison, at the 2006 European Swimming Championships in Budapest, unencumbered by the Olympics, seven European Records (including four World Records) were registered. Eindhoven was a strong foretaste of the upcoming Olympic “battle in the water”, when Europe’s elite will meet the best Americans, Australians, Japanese and Chinese.
Just as two years ago in Budapest, Russia once again topped the medal table with 12 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze medals in swimming, diving and synchronised swimming, followed by Italy (5-7-9), France (5-4-3), Spain (5-3-4), Germany (4-4-1) and the hosting Netherlands (4-3-3).
Consequently, Russia won the Swimming Team Trophy by a clear margin, with 722 points, ahead of Italy (574 points), Netherlands and Sweden (444 each), France (421) and Spain (384).
In diving, the Ukraine and Germany were joint winners of the Team Trophy with 172 points each. Russia finished second (157), Italy third (141), Great Britain fourth (73) and Greece fifth (41).
In synchronised swimming, Gemma Mengual became the first athlete ever to achieve all four available gold medals and ensured Spain’s top position in the Team Trophy with 576 points, followed by Italy (561), Ukraine (548), France (509) and the Netherlands (502).
Mengual was also the most successful athlete of the 2008 European Swimming Championships ahead of Dutch World Record holder Marleen Veldhuis with three gold medals (50m, 100m and 4x100m freestyle relay) in swimming.
2010 European Water Polo Championships in Zagreb Eindhoven (pps) LEN awarded the 2010 Men’s and Women’s European Water Polo Championships to Zagreb and the Croatian Water Polo Federation, during the Bureau meeting in Eindhoven. The contender was the joint bid by Debrecen (HUN) and Oradea (ROU). A decision regarding the host city of the 2010 European Swimming Championships will possibly be taken during the LEN Bureau meeting in York (GBR), on June 14. The Cities of Rome and Moscow are bidding for the event.
After the European Championships in swimming, diving and synchronised swimming in Eindhoven, the following LEN Events are scheduled in this Olympic year:
-May 9-10: Water Polo Euro League “Final Four “ in Barcelona (ESP)
-July 4-13: Men’s and Women’s European Water Polo Championships in Malaga (ESP)
-September 9-14: European Open Water Swimming Championships in Dubrovnik (CRO)
-December 11-14: European Short Course Swimming Championships in Rijeka (CRO)
Arena continues partnership with LEN for another four years Eindhoven (pps) LEN and Arena have extended their partnership for another four years from 2009 until 2012. Cristiano Portas, CEO of Arena, and LEN President Bartolo Consolo put their signatures under the new contract on the occasion of the closing press conference of the 29th European Swimming Championships in Eindhoven. Arena has been engaged in European swimming for 25 years.
