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OLEG MATYTSIN: TATARSTAN HAS RIGHTFULLY EARNED THE TITLE OF ONE OF RUSSIA'S MOST SPORTING REGIONS

OLEG MATYTSIN: TATARSTAN HAS RIGHTFULLY EARNED THE TITLE OF ONE OF RUSSIA'S MOST SPORTING REGIONS
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Oleg Matytsin: Tatarstan has rightfully earned the title of one of Russia's most sporting regions
Today's session of the 100tatarstan.com project featured a panel discussion, Kazan as the Centre of Attraction and Development in Aquatics. Oleg Matytsin, the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, was one of the speakers.

In his welcome speech, the minister congratulated the Republic of Tatarstan on its one-hundredth founding anniversary, and remarked on its contribution to sports development, "It's delightful to see that, even despite the pandemic, the introduction of new sports venues is not slowing down here. Tatarstan is opening new swimming pools, hockey ice palaces, and football pitches. It has rightfully earned the title of one of Russia's most sporting regions."

FINA President Julio Maglione also acknowledged the robust and lasting partnership between FINA and the Republic of Tatarstan in when it comes to hosting international sports events. He thanked the republic for its achievements in sport, "I am confident that FINA will keep on making every effort to support Tatarstan and Russia in general, because you are one of FINA's most important partners, and also our dear friends."
Other discussion speaker included: Dale Neuburger, FINA Vice President for America; Marco Birri, LEN Operations Manager; Lisa Schott, Chair of the FINA Technical Artistic Swimming Committee; Graham Hill, Chair of the FINA Coaches Committee; Vladimir Leonov, Minister of Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan; Olga Pavlova, Deputy of the Russian State Duma and Vice President of the Russian Synchronised Swimming Federation; Irek Zinnurov, Deputy of the Russian State Duma and President of the Sintez Kazan Water Polo Club; and Yusup Yakubov, Doctor of Political Science, Rector of the Volga State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism. The event was moderated by Ranko Tepavcevic, Deputy Director General of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects, Head of the FINA Development Centre in Kazan.

The session contributors discussed future prospects for the development of aquatics in general, as well as some specifics: supporting the FINA Development Centre in Kazan, synchronised swimming, and water polo, in addition to training aquatics experts. The speakers also touched upon international and inter-regional cooperation in the field.
Aquatics in Tatarstan their popularity to the heritage of the 2013 Summer Universiade and the 2015 FINA World Championships, as well as to regional authorities' commitment to accumulating material and technical resources for aquatics training. As of today, the people of the republic have 237 pool decks at their disposal, 16 of which are Olympic-grade. More than 30,000 children in Tatarstan are taking aquatics classes. 56 members of Russia's national aquatics team represent Tatarstan.

"All of the republic's municipalities are currently equipped with a state-of-the-art swimming infrastructure. The swimming pool ratio is 20.83%, which is a whole order of magnitude higher than the national average (9.9%). In other words, the average number of swimming pools across Russia is 1 per 32,000 people, whereas in the Republic of Tatarstan, the number is 1 per 17,000 people. Our swimming pools are capable of accommodating about 5,000 people at the same time," said Vladimir Leonov during the session.

This discussion is particularly relevant right now, as Kazan is preparing to host several major international sports events:

- the 2021 European Swimming Championships and the 2024 LEN European Aquatics Championships;

- the 2022 FINA Short Course World Swimming Championships and the 2025 FINA World Championships.
For reference: the 100% Tatarstan online event is a smart business platform that brings together regular people, business community members, government officials, and leading experts for an open discussion of the key issues relevant to Tatarstan's further strategic development. Its agenda includes panel discussions, live streams from opinion leaders, interviews and workshops, and analyses of strategic economic initiatives. The event will be taking place from 30 August to 10 September at 100tatarstan.com. Participants from around the world are free to join in, ask questions to experts, and receive prompt responses in real time.


Press Office of Directorate for Sports and Social Projects
Reports of the session participants
Oleg Matytsin
Minister of Sport of The Russian Federation
Good afternoon, dear colleagues!

On behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation and myself, I congratulate citizens and guests of the Republic of Tatarstan with 100-th anniversary of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic formation. Over the years, the Republic of Tatarstan has implemented many projects and programs aimed at improving the lives of the population of the Republic of Tatarstan and has become a leader in the socio-economic development of the country.

In this regard, I would like to note the work of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Mr. Rustam Minnikhanov and his team. To note the invaluable contribution to the sports industry and participation in the support of domestic sports.

First of all, this concerns the construction of sports infrastructure facilities. It is gratifying that in difficult conditions, in a period of unfavourable epidemiological situation, the rate of growth of new sports facilities in the Republic is growing. The Republic of Tatarstan has the opportunity to open such facilities as swimming pools, indoor ice palaces, full-size football arenas. This indicates the leadership's emphasis on creating conditions for physical culture and sports.

As part of the implementation of the Federal project "Sport-norm of life" of the national project "Demography", it is planned to increase the share of citizens who lead a healthy lifestyle to 55%. This indicator will be achieved by creating a system of motivation of the population, activating mass sports work at all levels, training sports reserves and developing sports infrastructure.

The Republic of Tatarstan is among the top ten in terms of the number of people engaged in physical culture and sports and is deservedly recognized as one of the most athletic regions in Russia, and Kazan is considered the centre of water sports development.

In the Republic of Tatarstan, water sports are developing very successfully: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo. For this purpose, the most favourable conditions have been created, and a serious material and technical base has been used.

Clubs are being created, sports schools and sections are operating, and much attention is paid to professional sports. The Republic of Tatarstan, like the whole country, is actively preparing for the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The number of athletes from the Republic of Tatarstan in the Russian national team is growing.

The Volga region Academy of physical culture, sports and tourism is a specialized University that provides personnel for the industry, training coaches and functionaries. With a strong base, the Academy implements modern educational standards and tests the latest methods in the field of sports science by sport.

Kazan is traditionally the venue for the World Cup stages in swimming, diving and synchronized swimming. Major international aquatics events are planned in the coming years. The 2021 LEN European swimming Championships, the 2022 FINA world swimming (25m) Championships, the 2024 LEN European Aquatics Championships, and the 2025 FINA world aquatics Championships.

I am sure that the Ministry of sports of the Russian Federation together with the regional authorities will hold them at the highest level.
In a panel discussion with the participation of our international partners. In this regard, I take this opportunity to invite everyone to the wonderful city of Kazan-the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan!

Dear colleagues, I thank all the organizers, experts, and sports fans for participating in the sports life of the Republic of Tatarstan and for discussing the current search for new forms of sports development.

The format of the new time shows that we were engaged in sports and will continue to develop sports traditions together and always!
Dr Julio С. Maglione
FINA President
Your Excellency President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin Minister of Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov Ladies and gentlemen! Dear friends!

It is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity to address to you and the people of Tatarstan our great recognition and thanks for the development of Aquatics worldwide and in particularly in Tatarstan, and in its capital, Kazan.

With your support we have organised some of the most memorable events, including one of the best ever World Championships, and we continue having extraordinary events every year within one of the most fantastic and spectacular venues in the world.

Kazan is one of the most engaged communities in the world. The swimming pool is always full of spectators and show the great interest, popularity, and value of our events. I ensure you that FINA will continuously support Kazan, the Republic of Tatarstan and all Russia in any possible way, being one of the most important partners of FINA's history. But more, you are extraordinary, wonderful friends!

Besides, the establishment of the FINA Development Center is a key milestone for the growth and progress of our sport, which from the first day bring FINA and all our members great results.

Please allow me on behalf of FINA to thank you and your team all your work and express our highest recognition for all the achievements of these past few years.

Thank you Kazan!
Thank you Republic of Tatarstan!
Thank you Russia!
Thank you very much!
Vladimir Leonov
Minister of Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan
"Development of aquatic sports in the Republic of Tatarstan"

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan and myself I would like to welcome participants and viewers of today's panel session during 100% Tatarstan online platform.

Today, our partners and accomplices are taking part in the work, and in this regard, let me thank you for your participation and support of all our initiatives and projects implemented in the Republic of Tatarstan. Without our joint work, their successful implementation would not have been possible.

As Dr. Julio Maglione noted in his welcome speech, professional relations and close cooperation between the Republic of Tatarstan and FINA (International Swimming Federation) began to develop during the preparation of Kazan for the 16th FINA world aquatics Championships, which Kazan hosted in 2015, and continue to this day. We successfully held a number of test events for this water world Cup, then the world Cup in diving, the world Cup in swimming. Today Kazan, the Republic of Tatarstan, has become a traditional place for the world Cup stages in swimming, diving, water Polo and synchronized swimming. The city has everything necessary to ensure that competitions under the auspices of FINA are held at the top level — experience, infrastructure, and the love of local people for aquatic sports.

I would like to note that these achievements are not accidental; it is a huge work of a large team led by our President of the Republic of Tatarstan Mr. Rustam Minnikhanov. Only competent, wise policies and systematic work allow us to achieve such results. Let me remind you that more than 10 years have passed since the right to host the world summer student games (the Universiade) was given to Kazan. The Universiade set the momentum and gave us invaluable experience in carrying out large, responsible projects.

Today, this obliges us to raise the bar for the preparation and holding of the next tournaments to a qualitatively new level.

These concerns to the 2021 European swimming Championships and the 2024 European aquatics Championships, the right to host these competitions is entrusted to Kazan.

In 2022, the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), and in 2025, we will once again host the world's largest event - the world aquatics Championships.

We thank our colleagues from the international, European and all-Russian water sports federations for their trust and joint work.

Water sports are particularly popular in Tatarstan. First, as I have already said, this was made possible by the legacy of major sports events that were held in Kazan. The population of the Republic was drawn to sports sections and swimming pools. In addition, the Republic's leadership is implementing targeted work to create a material and technical base for aquatic sports.

For the development of water sports, training and competitions, the necessary infrastructure is available: Republic have 237 swimming pools, 16 of which are 50-meter long.

Last year and this year alone, we have introduced 16 swimming pools in 12 municipalities, one of which is the wonderful 50-meter Miras swimming pool in Almetyevsk. (1 – to 50-meter, 9 – 25 meter).

Today, all municipalities of the Republic of Tatarstan have a modern swimming infrastructure. The percentage of pool availability is 20,83%, which is higher in the country as a whole (9,9%).

If in the whole country there are 32 thousand people per 1 pool, and in the Republic of Tatarstan there are 17 thousand people per 1 pool. At the same time, about 5 thousand citizens of the Republic of Tatarstan can visit our swimming pools.

Swimming pools are the most visited and popular objects among the population, followed by ice rinks, sports halls and football fields.

The water infrastructure includes both jump baths and bowls for synchronized swimming. There is one of the largest complexes in the country, the Aquatics Palace, where the state aquatics school is based, which cultivates 3 kinds of sports.

The created swimming infrastructure directly affects the coverage of water sports.

In the Republic of Tatarstan, more than 33 thousand people are engaged in water sports (32,013 – swimming, 555 – water polo, 355 – synchronized swimming, 135 – diving).

Currently, swimming ranks 4th in popularity among the population of the Republic (football, volleyball, basketball, swimming) and 3rd among 77 sports cultivated in sports schools of the Republic of Tatarstan (8.78% of the total number of students).

In sports schools and Kazan school of the Olympic reserve of the Republic of Tatarstan there are 45 departments for water sports (38-swimming, 3-synchronized swimming, 2-water Polo, 2-diving). In these departments, 8,952 young athletes are engaged (8,037-swimming, 454-water Polo, 326 – synchronized swimming, 135 – diving). The number of full-time trainers of teachers is 196 people. 131 coaches have higher professional education in the field of physical culture and sports, 16 coaches have secondary professional education, 22 coaches have the highest qualification category, 33 – the first.

We started cultivating many sports from scratch and today we have results in training our athletes to the level of the national team. For example diving. Thanks to the involvement of the leadership of the sports Federation, and the existing database, Tatarstan is represented by the following athletes who are part of the national team:
Nikita Schleicher and Alexander Belevtsev won the European diving championship; Nikita Schleicher is the 2018 European champion;
Victoria Milashechkina – prize winer of the Russian Championship.

It is gratifying to note that every year the number of high-level swimmers competing for the Republic of Tatarstan is growing. There are also victories. So, Alexander Krasnykh became a silver medalist at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in South Korea.

Grigory Tarasevich and Yegor Kuimov are the winners of the World Summer Universiade in Napoli. At the moment, the expanded Russian national team for participation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo 21 includes 38 athletes from Tatarstan in 13 sports. Swimming athletes have the largest representation.

Specialized centers at the Kazan School of the Olympic reserve and the Volga region Academy of sports became platforms for training athletes. This school is Tatiana Pokrovskaya's synchronized swimming School, FINA Development center.

With the support of commercial structures, the Sintez aquatics club operates, which unites almost all water sports. This club includes leading and promising athletes of Tatarstan with the opportunity to receive additional financial support. Next, my colleagues will tell you more about these centers.

The club system is becoming quite effective. We will continue to work on other team and individual sports.

What is important is that today Federal sports and training centers have been set up on the basis of many of our sports facilities to train the sports reserve to attract the main, youth and Junior teams of the Russian national teams. In cooperation with the leadership of all-Russian federations, conditions have been created to improve the sport skills of Tatarstan athletes.

We also invite our international partners to conduct joint training events. Together with teams from your countries, we can conduct joint training camps in many sports. We already have successful experience in this area with China, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Turkey, etc.

The advantage of our region is a convenient, high-tech, sports infrastructure;
High standard of service and hospitality;
Modern educational and sports techniques combined with the best traditions of the Soviet school;
Qualified coaching staff;
Comfortable climate;
And of course, the unique, original culture of Tatarstan and Kazan.

Dear colleagues, despite all the difficulties associated with the epidemiological situation, we are gradually getting out of quarantine. Countries are opening their borders, and we expect to fully implement our activities soon.

Thank you for your attention, Welcome to Kazan!
Irek Zinnurov
Deputy of the Russian State Duma, President of the aquatics club "SINTEZ", honored master of sports, two-time Olympic Games medalist (2000, 2004)
Good evening, dear colleagues!

I am glad to see you all here in the hospitable city of Kazan, and I would like to share my ideas and views on FINA Development Center and its progress through water polo, the sport, which is very close to me.

We all do remember how popular water polo competitions have become during FINA World Championships, Masters World Championships, and the World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan. Water polo infrastructure of our city has been further improved ever since, which made it possible to claim a longer term prosperity.

Today, the major player on the aquatics arena of the Republic of Tatarstan, and maybe the whole Russia, is undoubtedly "Club SINTEZ". It started in 1974 as a water polo team, all the way up to the present moment enjoyed all-round support of JSC KAZANORGSINTEZ and Group of companies TAIF. Our respectable sponsors have created very favorable conditions for us - for play and practice. Please, look at the screen and you will see it with your own eyes (a promo-video of the club).

A few words on what we have achieved as a club. The major breakthrough of SINTEZ is a well-built and thorough sport system, the so called "sport pyramid", with children and mass sport at the foot, junior select teams in the midst, and masters team at the top (and what a strong team it is!!!). We are ready to share experience of how to build a successful club system - both in Russia and abroad.

What we offer:

An international tournament under FINA aegis will be able to bring Commonwealth and Islamic countries in one place and to give a proper frame for clinics and seminars for referees, sport doctors, coaches and managers.

The focus shall be on education, qualification upgrade, and sharing experience. A good chance to test the idea will come during the Commonwealth Games 2021 with the prospect to settle it down in a more institutionalized way, to say, on the floor of the FINA Development Center.

Once again, we express gratitude to our sponsors - Kazanorgsintez and TAIF for their ever-lasting support, to the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and FINA Development Center for fruitful collaboration.
Marco Birri
LEN Operations Manager
"Question about participation of the Sintez aquatic sports club in the LEN Champions League"

First of all, thank you very much for this invitation to this interesting conference.

Obviously, I am always happy to speak about Kazan, which in our discipline, in aquatic discipline, represent a really important location after the success we already have in our junior championship recently and obviously the big success of the world championship and Universiade in term of organization.

Obviously the LEN put an important eye on this location and obviously together with all the authorities which still have to thanks for the strong cooperation we will have two important events.

One in 2021 which is the European short course championship and in 2024 the European aquatic championship – the main even we have here in Europe regarding the aquatics sport.

So as I said Kazan represent a very important point for us and for the development of our sport. Their skill in organizing events it is quite well tested therefore we are very much confident to have another big success in this event.

Then also in Kazan regarding one of our discipline that is water polo. There is an important club that is Syntez Kazan.

It is a club which has took part in our competitions since old times. It is an historical club which have a lot of success also in Russia. They played a champions league with in water polo we can say honestly is our main competition and probably we can even say that this is one of the most important world competition in water polo. The strongest clubs are there and Kazan already played last season, which I would say being the first time after long time with a good success.

Therefore it will be extremely important for us to have still Kazan in champions league in the future starting from the coming season that will be obviously a different season due to the lets say episode happening around the world but in principal we are pushing hard as LEN to have a great event as usual and Kazan can be obviously or must be part of this event.

And then in this regard obviously we would like, I would like to know the real programme and development of this important club for the future of water polo in order to also support the development of water polo in Russia.

Thank you very much again and see you soon.
Olga Pavlova
Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Vice-President of the Russian Synchronised Swimming Federation, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Synchronised Swimming Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan, coordinator of the "Children's Sport" federal project in the Republic of Tatarstan, Merited coach of Russia
"School of Tatiana Pokrovskaya – global sports brand, introduced by Tatarstan!"

Good afternoon, dear friends!

Today, Tatarstan presents itself as a world sports brand.

From our point of view, it does not only correspond to today's realities but also fully reflects the national development goals of our State till 2030.

Our main objectives are population retention, people's health and wellbeing, opportunities for self-realization and development of talents.

Sport and physical activity are the most powerful and key success drivers.

This is why in 2018 sport was defined as an important factor of country's sustainable development by a United Nations General Assembly Resolution.

Development of modern state is impossible without innovative economy.

Innovative economy is created by not only intelligence of innovators and scholars, but also human assets.
And today's society more than ever demands healthy and active people. This is no new idea.

To be historically precise, in Russia physical education was included into compulsory youth education programme since 18th century along with literature, foreign languages, science, music and dancing.

The history of Artistic Swimming has started to be written by ancient civilizations. In ancient Egypt and Rome young women and men demonstrated miraculous grace propelling through water with only leg movements. Circle dancing to music was a mandatory part of water spectaculars.

The origin of Artistic Swimming in the USSR is inseparably associated with Maya Plisetskaya, a great ballet dancer. In 1976, the All-Union Artistic Swimming Commission was created under the USSR Sports Committee. This rapidly boosted the development of Artistic Swimming in our country.

Style, traditions, outstanding choreographic staging of Russian classic music and ballet are hallmarks of today's Russian Artistic Swimming.

"Brilliant splashes, female figures soaring over water – the visible weightlessness and lightness is secured by exhausting labour. Literally entire life is laid on the balance pan with Olympic gold. It is definitely art. But first of all it is a real sport, being very hard and demanding the most of physical and emotional concentration. Few can keep this insane pace. But those who can become Olympic champions famous all over the world!"

It is the worldwide recognition of sports lovers and fans of this very discipline.

Team Russia has not given up a single Olympic gold medal since 2000.

The triumphant period for the Russia national team started in 1998 with the appointment of Tatyana Pokrovskaya as the head coach. In Sydney 2000, Russians took their first gold medals both in teams and duets. Since then no highest award has been ever taken by any other team. It should be understood that for an athlete getting into the team almost certainly guarantees the medal.

It was Pokrovskaya who started the exactingness towards musical pieces that back up the team's performance. Music, costumes and the girls' emotions during the showing are a single whole formed according to the laws of classic ballet school.

The people of Tatarstan first saw and fell in love once and for all with the great coach and her team in 2013 during the World Universiade in Kazan.

This was an enchanting water spectacle. Children and adults held their breath to watch the performance of our national team.

We understood that developing Artistic Swimming in the Republic requires a modern basis, competent specialists and innovative strategies and approaches.

After the space of 7 years we can definitely say that the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, has done a tremendous work. In Tatarstan, there are 239 pool basins available. Can any of Russia's regions boast such sports infrastructure available within the walking distance?! Definitely not!

Thus, the ideology of shifting the emphasis of aquatics development to the Republic of Tatarstan is obvious.
Last year the Kazan Olympic Reserve School opened the School of Hero of Labour of Russia, Merited Coach of Russia Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

I express deepest gratitude to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov for taking this wise and breakthrough decision.

The launch of the School of Tatyana Pokrovskaya is a revolutionary step in preparation of reserve. Today we shall put it straight that in sports there is a hard fight for talents. Of course, we are open and welcome the best. The work has begun. We already have first successes: 15-year-old Agniya Tulupova is the school's first Master of Sports and national team contender.

With the name of Pokrovskaya, the school gets the right to implement innovative strategies in preparing athletes of Tatarstan according to international standards.

Today, international experience and know-how is used in the school's workouts.

This year the School of Pokrovskaya opened a training camp with unique athletic programmes in choreography, acrobatics and gymnastics. Innovative approaches were implemented to prepare artistic swimmers. World's best specialists and athletes worked poolside.

The work was summarized by the Kazan Lights, the world's first competition after the pandemic.

Originally, the competition as well as the camp were planned as international, but COVID changed the agenda. We hope that next year we will welcome athletes from not only other regions of Russia, but also abroad.

Nevertheless, young athletes already call Tatyana Pokrovskaya's camp a major event in their lives. "This is the best I have ever seen in my life, thanks to the organizers!" said Lev Balakin (2007), runner-up in the all-Russian competition.

Such systematic work will allow athletes of Tatarstan take leading positions in Russia and the world in the future. We are confidently moving forward.

The name of Tatyana Pokrovskaya, the great coach, is definitely interesting to the whole world. And FINA supports the proposal to open an international Artistic Swimming Development Centre on the basis of the School of Pokrovskaya. Only training with the best athletes of the world can we grow competitive reserve.

The constructive ground for taking key decisions in preparation of reserve and defining the strategies for developing global Artistic Swimming was the FINA World Series event that took place in Kazan for the first time in April last year. The Kazan leg was considered the best among 10 events.

Within the framework of the World Series, international Seminar for Artistic Swimming coaches and FINA School for Artistic Swimming officials took place. All our specialists took part in these events. 50% of coaches and officials were delegated to the all-Russian workshop in Moscow.

We reached an agreement for internship of young coaches from Tatarstan on the basis of Russian national teams.

Online further training courses for Artistic Swimming coaches at the FINA Centre will be also held in November as part of the Russian Championship. Tatarstan will host the championship for the fifth time.

Following the decision of the Executive Committee of the Russian Artistic Swimming Federation and in agreement with the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, Kazan will again host the Golden League in 2021.

Today the children's competition is also known internationally. It is the Cup of the First Vice President of the Russian Artistic Swimming Federation, five-time Olympic champion, a Dynamo athlete Svetlana Romashina. The Cup of Svetlana Romashina is organized for 13-15-yer-old athletes which is an important step in preparing the sports reserve. The Cup is extremely popular with athletes from near and far abroad. This year the Cup will be held under the umbrella of LEN. We have started preparation for the event.

One more thing…

On the 1st of September, the first polylingual complex "Adymnar" with the scope of 2688 students was opened in Kazan at the initiative of the State Counsellor of the Republic of Tatarstan, Mintimer Shaimiev and with the support of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. The school is to hold classes of English, Spanish and Turkish languages, as well as Artistic Swimming.

The project of creating a network of polylingual educational complexes "Adymnar" is a way to knowledge and concord, and Artistic Swimming holds a rightful place in the system of supplementary education.

In the future, the plans are to integrate the polylingual schools into the international system of UNESCO Associated Schools.

Actually, the main aim of the numerous international and national competitions we have been holding in the last few years at home in Tatarstan is to form the culture of a healthy lifestyle and to popularise medal-bringing sports. And above all, to promote the positive image of our Republic and Russia in the international field, to what development of high-quality international sports education will contribute as well.
Lisa Schott
Chairman of the FINA Technical Artistic Swimming Committee
"Prospects for the development of Artistic Swimming in Russia"

Hi, my name is Lisa Schott. I am the chair of the FINA Technical Artistic Swimming Committee.

It is amazing team to lead and amazing job.

Today I am here to welcome Kazan and congratulate them on a 100th anniversary under the Tatarstan government and their great partnership with FINA especially in a sport of Artistic Swimming that hosted artistic swimming world series and junior world events for this sport.

Russians are the world-class leaders in the sport due to their excellent coaching, judges and training and development. Kazan is leader in this area.

It is important for the future of this sport to continue educating and developing by remaining diverse and innovative and inclusive. The FINA Technical Artistic Swimming Committee is working hard towards
innovating in the future.

What are we doing?

We are taking synchronization into its own category and using technology. We are also defining the acrobatic highlights of movements of the routines. In the future this highlights will have a define difficulty and coaches will declare the difficulty of the routine in advance much like diving. This brings objectivity into the sport.
My colleague, Olga Brusnikina, is working on defining the difficulty the hybrids, figures and transitions. This phase is currently in development, so stay tuned.

There is no doubt judges in the future will become more specialized and the sport will become more objective.
Men must be included in the sport in the future to ensure that the sport remains relevant. Mixed events are fan favorite at the Artistic Swimming World Series and the FINA World Championships. Alexander is one of the world's best role models for men in the sport and always champion the inclusion of mix duets at whatever level he is talking to.

On behalf of my FINA Technical Artistic Swimming Committee, we wish you a great convention. We know by working together we will have continued success.

In these pandemic times, please stay safe and we hope to see you on the pool deck soon in 2021.

We love you Russia, spasibo.
Yusup Yakubov
Rector of the Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism
"Staff training as a key factor in the development of aquatic sports"

The Volga State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism trains coaches across 20 disciplines. The total number of students that are currently pursuing coach education at the Academy exceeds 1,600.

Ever since we first opened admissions in 2011, we have made aquatics our priority, as an Olympic sport. We opened a special Aquatics Department at our academy two years ago. There currently are 8 coaches and teachers working there. They have come to the academy from different Russian regions, and give classes to over 150 students that represent 27 Russian regions and five foreign countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Lithuania. The future coaches are majoring in swimming, artistic swimming and diving.

The quality of the students' achievements speaks for itself. More than 100 of our students have sports awards and honorary titles. (2 Honorary Masters of Sports of Russia (Tarasevich and Shleikher), 4 International Masters of Sports, 41 Masters of Sport of Russia, and 43 Master of Sport nominees). Seven of our students are members of Russia's national aquatics team. Olympic artistic swimming champion Svetlana Romashina is a port-graduate student at our academy.

We possess all the necessary material and technical resources for high-quality expert training. The academy facilities include three indoor swimming pools. Most of the training takes place at the Burevestnik, which is 50m pool. Apart from the pool, the Burevestnik is also equipped with a specially designed gym. This is where we hold not just lectures and practice sessions for the academy students, but also train the academy's swimming team. Under the guidance of our guest coach, Maksim Dedlovsky, these young athletes have already managed to win the Russian student championships three times and the Russian Universiade twice. Some of the students from the team are: Ernest Magsumov and Grigoriy Tarasevich, who won medals at the Summer Universiade in Naples last year; Alexandr Krasnykh, who took part in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and graduated from the academy this year; and several students from Latvia and Kazakhstan. Half of Tatarstan's national swimming team members are from our academy, and some of the student athletes are delegated to the national team.

Aside from daily training and competitions, aspiring coaches also take part in various practice sessions. Unfortunately, between May and August 2020, our facilities (just as all other sports venues elsewhere around the country) were closed due to the pandemic. But on 1 September, they went back to regular operation, and our students began their offline classes. All our aquatics venues also offer training to students from children's sports schools, as well as fitness classes. Apart from the Burevestnik, our academy also owns a 25-metre swimming pool at the Rowing Centre, which we use for short-distance practice. This is also where children's fitness groups have swimming and artistic swimming classes. Six of our students work as instructors and children's coaches, with over 400 school children under their care.

Our third and largest aquatics venue is considered one of the best in Russia. It is the Aquatics Palace, with three specialised pool basins for swimming, artistic swimming, and diving. We have created special fitness groups at the Palace, allowing over 2 thousand children to practice swimming, 180 to practice artistic swimming, and 80 to practice diving. They are instructed by 49 coaches, seven of whom are our students and alumni. In 2019, the Aquatics Palace became our first venue to install an automated control system. This has made the coaches' work more streamlined, allowing them to track their students' attendance and performance. This market-oriented solution gives our experts a competitive advantage and, aside from helping single out the most talented aspiring swimmers for the Aquatica children's sports school (based at the Aquatics Palace), provides the students with a personal training regimen for better progress. The average salary for coaches at our facilities is currently approximately 30,600 roubles. The best and most reputable experts can earn between 70 and 100 thousand roubles per month.

Furthermore, our academy's research centre has been providing athletes with rehabilitation and wellness assistance for several years now. Our experts' studies and recommendations to currently active coaches and athletes are always yielding positive results.

It bears a special mention that our venues are capable of hosting major Russian and international events. And aside from world cups and nationwide competitions in aquatics, we are also honoured to welcome Olympic champion Alexander Popov, who has been bringing his own cup to the Burevestnik for the past few years. Olympic champions Evgeny Galperin (diving) and Mariya Kiselyova (artistic swimming) use our facilities as a base for their summer camps. They share the secrets of their craft with our coaches and students at special workshops and training sessions. For every New Year's celebration, Mariya Kiselyova organises an aquatics show, which sees contributions both from our academy's students and the children whom they help train. On top of it all, we regularly welcome Masters Championships. Veteran swimmers aged 35 to 90 (!) come to compete in this event every year. Our students help out here as well: they work as referees and volunteers. Trust me, the spirit of these events is one of a kind!

Our academy accepts 37 students per year on a tuition-free basis. Approximately 3 prospective students compete for each place available at our academy. About 200 of our alumni have already found jobs at Tatarstan's sports schools or are being welcomed to aquatics venues that are opening in other Russian regions, along with numerous fitness centres; some are also working as personal trainers.

I believe that the FINA school project, which we are working on together with ANO "Directorate for Sports and Social Projects", has been highly successful and has a lot of promise for the future. Tatarstan is home to several ethnic groups; we celebrate diversity and have a unique national culture. We are offering beginner-level Russian language courses, as well as secure accommodation at our campus in the Universiade Village. Therefore, I do not see any reason why people who would like to improve their aquatics skills should not apply to our academy and work towards their goals as our students.

Graham Hill
Chairman of the FINA Coaches Committee
Good day and welcome Mr. President, Sports Minister other dignitaries and speakers.

It is a great honor for me as Chairman of FINA Coaches Association to be able to say a few words about this great initiative by the FINA development center in Kazan.

I am really blessed to have been able to attend a training camp there.

And I think the importance that is going to be established from this conference, the importance of staging of training camps, sharing of knowledge, development of both coaches, athletes and administrators is a great way forward in enabling the sport of aquatics to develop.

It's rarely easy to host major events as has Kazan done in the past.

I remember attending 2015 World Championships – a great event.

But as I said before in 2018 I was invited to attend a FINA Development Camp in Russia in Kazan and what a beautiful facility. Coaches and swimmers from around the world all over Europe attending this camp, sharing knowledge and training and participating against one another.

I think this is great for the country, for FINA and for everybody else that is involved. It is the way forward. It is the way to advance the sport of aquatics for the future. And I am really excited about it.

And hope to attend once again maybe another camp or another clinic being hold there.

So good luck to everyone. I think it will be great for the future and enjoy.
Dale Neuburger
Is currently serving his fifth term as FINA Vice President (Americas)
"Development of FINA-Tatarstan relations"

I am Dale Neuburger from the United States and I service FINA Vice president and also the chairman of the FINA Development commission the role that I has since 2009.

It gives me great pleasure today to talk to you very briefly, about the outstanding collaboration that FINA had enjoyed with the Republic of Tatarstan and the city of Kazan, and establishing Kazan as one of the major centers for aquatic sports worldwide. In 2015, Kazan hosted the FINA world championships.

It is a difficult event - 17 days, 6 disciplines, 2500 athletes from almost 200 countries worldwide. It is very challenging event. And I can tell you that the organization in Kazan was perfect, technically excellent in every way across all six disciplines through every element of the competition. It was fantastic.

But even more fantastic was the legacy of the world championships. Legacy of the world championships was the establishment of the training center for development athletes from Asia and in some cases from Africa.

That would allow those athletes to have benefit of outstanding coaching and fantastic facility in a supportive city where they had a best chance to achieve success and hopefully achieve Olympic qualifying standards.

Right now, we have 8 athletes from all over Asia and Africa: swimming athletes who were training at the development center today and 6 divers, the first divers in our scholarship programme based in Kazan. All 14 of those athletes are training for position in the Olympic games in Tokyo next summer. And it is because of the great coaching, the great technical expertise and the great support that they receive in Kazan that they have a chance to do so.

But Kazan has done so much more.

It's hosted FINA world series diving events, hosted variety of clinics and seminars across all of the aquatic disciplines. It is served as training grounds for our judges and technical officials and has been the center of so much of our development activity.

I would tell you with the great gratitude FINA appreciate so much what Kazan has done and most of all its kept its promises.

What it's said it would do its consistently done and its rare in our world today.

So my hat off to Kazan. It is been a very special place.

FINA regards it with the special affection and I thank all of you and your colleagues who helped to make sure that our sport grows primarily as a result of the great support we receive from the city of Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan. FINA regards it with the special affection and I thank all of you and your colleagues who helped to make sure that our sport grows primarily as a result of the great support we receive from the city of Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan.

Thank you.
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