2022 Water Polo Europeans to be held in SeptemberLEN is happy to announce that the2022 European Water Polo Championships in Split shall be heldin two years time,from 27 August to 10 September. The autumn datewas set in orderto ensure that the players take the necessary recovering period after a busy spring in that year.The LEN Bureauhasopted to choose late summer-­‐early autumndates forthe 2022 European Water Polo Championships. Thoughthelast twomid-­‐term editions of this eventin 2014 and 2018 were held in the summer, LEN returns to the 2006 and 2010 schedule for 2022 and will stage the water polo Europeans in September. Partly because thecurrent pandemic had a domino-­‐effect on the sporting calendar and due to the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021, the FINA World Championships were also moved from the summer of 2021 to May 2022. “To have our top water polo event inJuly2022would mean unbearable load for our great waterpolo playerswhowill need toenjoy asubstantial recovery period after an unprecedentedly busy spring” LEN President Paolo Barelli said.“Athletes’ welfare has always been in the core of LEN’s policies and we shall never move away from our principles. The Croatian Water Polo Federation and the local organisers were all very supportive to hold the championships at the end of the summer.”“Though the event is still two years away, Croatia, the city of Split and the local water polo community are all already excited to welcome back the European Water Polo Championships to our country” Croatian Water Polo Federation President Mladen Drnasin added.“International water polo events always enjoy a fantastic atmosphere here in Croatia and we expect nothing less this time. On behalf of the organisers and the city,we can promise to deliver another outstanding championships in 2022.”The magnificent Spaladium Arenais going to be the venue of the event in Split. It hasa capacity of approximately 10,000 spectators and wasthe site of various outstanding sport events, including the 2009 men’s handball World Championships.Early autumn dates have not been uncommon for the water polo Europeans: indeed, the last one held in Croatia in 2010 was also staged in September in Zagreb. Earlier, the 1999 edition in Florence/Prato and the 2006 edition in Belgrade also took place in September and all were tremendous success.In 2022 the top water polo spectacle will follow the otherhighlight of the summer, the European Aquatics Championships in Rome, scheduled for 11-­‐21 August.28August2020