Russia Draws Raves from FINA Executive Director -- On the Scene

(ATR) With the 16th FINA World Championships nearing the midway point, executive director Cornel Marculescu says Kazan 2015 could be the best yet.

From the opening ceremony and innovative temporary venues to the athletes' village and the big crowds attending morning sessions, Marculescu said federal, Republic of Tatarstan and Kazan city officials has been first class and FINA could return to Russia with different events in years to come.

"Probably in the future, we are going to run events here in Kazan, like diving world series, because the facilities are fantastic," Marculescu told Around The Rings. "They’ve become an international sports city. A very clean city, very nice people.

"The volunteers are fantastic. I can see that it’s a kind of championships we never had until today because of the village and because of the venues."

The village is the Main International Centre, part of the sprawling University Village that is a legacy of the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade. It remains for student housing and was made available to FINA as part of Kazan’s 2011-won bid.

"At the beginning, I was not so much in favor of the village, our experience has been hotels chosen by the teams. After a few days talking to athletes, everyone is happy. They have fantastic food, four different restaurants. This correlation between athletes is important."

Another first for FINA is hosting events in a temporary pool built within a football stadium. With the help of Myrtha Pools, two temporary 50m pools were built inside the Kazan Arena, a 2013 legacy venue that is also the first stadium built for Russia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup. One of the pools for training, the other for synchro and swimming competitions.

"We like to get out from the conventional venues, because in a conventional venue you don’t have space to develop activities, TV or for partners. It gives another dimension to the sport, to see the synchro swimming at nine in the morning with 7,000 people, never in a world championship."

The World Championships end Aug. 9. For the first time, FINA World Masters Championships will begin concurrently in the same city, running Aug. 5-16.

"It’s an experience. We will see if it’s positive or negative and look and see what is going to be the next step," he said.

For Kazan, the FINA World Championships could be a springboard to an Olympic bid. Earlier in the World Championships, Russia Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov told Russian news agency Tass that he was "sure [Kazan] could cope with hosting the Summer Olympics."

As far as Marculescu is concerned, anything is possible for the organizers, the ANO Executive Directorate for Sports Projects, another legacy of the 2013 Universiade.

"They’re capable of everything here, I have no doubt. It’s a lot of work to do," Marculescu said. "They have an organizing committee, 200 people. They’re going to be the site in 2018 for FIFA and are going to be in this stadium. They are very dynamic."

Kazan 2015, which Marculescu says costs more than US$80 million, will be followed in 2017 by Budapest, which took over when Guadalajara cited financial reasons to withdraw in February. Gwangju, South Korea is already in place for 2019. Six groups from United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Qatar, Japan, Turkey and China interested in the 2021 and 2023 championships attended a recent information session. Formal bids are due this fall and FINA will vote Nov. 8 in Dubai.

Written by Bob Mackin in Kazan

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