Monday Memo - Aquatics Convention; Softball Decision; Peace and Sport

World Aquatics Convention

This week’s World Aquatics Convention will feature a Gold Medal Swimming Coaches Clinic, a first for FINA.

Around the Rings will be on the scene in Moscow for the duration.

The coaches clinic will run alongside a meeting of the FINA Bureau on Monday with the World Aquatics Convention following Tuesday through Thursday.

The week will be themed around "Aquatics for All: Developing and Performing for Excellence" and will address topics such as "Impact of Swimming in the Success of the London Olympic Games"; "IOC programs available through Olympic Solidarity, Continental Olympic Associations and NOCs"; "Aquatics and Media" and more.

Stay tuned Tuesday for a wide-ranging interview with FINA president Julio Maglione.

In the meantime, click here to check out ATR’s special edition magazine for the occasion.

Softball, Baseball Bid Decision

Tuesday is decision day for the International Softball Federation.

An extraordinary congress convenes in Houston to vote whether to merge with the International Baseball Federation or bid alone for a spot in the 2020 Olympics.

Sochi Hosts Peace and Sport

Peace and Sport heads abroad for the first time this week after five years in the Principality of Monaco.

Sochi will stage the 2012 Peace and Sport International Forum from Wednesday to Friday.

The 2011 forum drew about 500 delegates from 100 nations, including a half-dozen heads of state, plus sports ministers, IOC members and numerous NGOs involved in peace and sport activities.

Public Ranks Sports Cities in New Index

Voting is open for the inaugural Sports Cities Index, presented by Around the Rings and TSE Consulting.

The comprehensive biannual ranking is built around a group of 50 cities selected through criteria such as staging recent and upcoming Olympics or other major multi-sport Games, hosting professional sports teams as well as organizing major championships or world-class events such as tennis Grand Slams and Formula 1 races.

Though the initial batch is already set, it’s up to the public to help sort them out 1 through 50 based on their perceptions of the cities as having hosted major events, having quality facilities and being healthy and active places to live.

An online survey open through Nov. 11 asks respondents four brief questions on those themes and then gives them the opportunity to suggest other cities for inclusion in future editions.

A group of 100 "TSE Survey Experts" drawn from international federations, National Olympic Committees, sports media and other influencers will also respond to the survey.

Answers from these experts will be combined with those from the general public to produce the final Sports Cities Index, to be released Nov. 16 at the City Events Conference in Lausanne. ATR subscribers will receive results via email Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. ET.

Written by Matthew Grayson

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