Eilat: The European round in open water will be limited

After lengthy discussions by the Swimming Association leaders and following the Ministry of Health and other relevant ministry guidelines, it was decided Thursday that the European Open Water Competition and the Israeli Open Water Championships, scheduled to begin tomorrow, will indeed take place in Eilat, with the participation of four of them.The teams that will not be able to take part in the competition are those who come from countries that should be isolated on arrival, ie France, Germany, Austria and Spain. We should note that these teams were already in Israel at the time the guidelines were issued, but were forced to leave and the Swimming Association assisted them in finding flights and apologized to the delegations for the aggravation. These are joined by the Italian team, which, as recalled, participated in the competition was canceled in advance, and the Canada, Hungary and Switzerland teams – who have decided to cancel their arrival proactively.

Thus, the competition will interview representatives from 20 countries, which according to the Ministry of Health guidelines do not prevent them from participating. However, as a preventive safety measure and subject to the guidelines, it was decided to cancel the traditional opening ceremony. Also, the competition will be completely split between the women and men and so there will only be about 40 competitors at the same time in the water and in the competition area. We note that all steps are taken in full coordination with the Eilat Municipality and the Ministry of Tourism, and that any further changes in the guidelines will be a reassessment of the situation with the relevant parties.

Remember, the competition in Eilat is the first in the high quality European round in open water, and the biggest in the round, and is used for the Israeli swimmers both the Israel Championship and the test competition that will decide which swimmers will be sent to the crucial criterion for the Olympic Games. Tomorrow the competition will be held at 5 km, on Saturday the apostles’ competition and the first Olympic distance to 10 km.

We will also note that the artistic swimming team in France is currently in preparation for its participation in the World Cup competition. The team, which came to France directly from a training camp in Spain, is following the Ministry of Health’s instructions, and therefore the union faces two alternatives: finding a destination for the girls in a third country training camp in the next two weeks does not require isolation, or the isolation is concentrated and shared in Israel. The association is in contact with the athletes’ families and the Ministry of Health, and a decision will be made in the coming days.