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LEN postpones Budapest 2020 European Aquatics Championships
March 23, 2020European governing body LEN has announced all its events scheduled to take place before mid-July are being postponed or cancelled.
This includes the Budapest 2020 European Aquatics Championships, which was due to take place from 11-24 May, and the European Masters Championships scheduled for 24 May to 7 June.
The European Junior Championships covering all disciplines has also been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Paolo Barelli, LEN President, said: “As we all know, we are experiencing an unprecedented situation that is changing on a daily basis.
“Due to the many uncertainties, it is very difficult to make any firm planning.
“LEN will obviously continue monitoring the situation and adapt as required to unconditionally safeguard the health and safety of the athletes, coaches and the whole LEN family.
“I wish the whole LEN family all the best in this difficult moment.”
Tentatively rearranged
The 2020 European Aquatics Championships has been ‘tentatively’ rearranged for 17-30 August but LEN admit is it ‘very difficult to make any firm mid-term planning under the current circumstances’.
These dates will be reassessed towards the end of May/early June.
A new date for the European Masters Championships is yet to be finalised.
They were due to be held straight after the European Championships in May but LEN said the ‘new dates and way forward are to be confirmed later’.
Meanwhile, all the aquatics events in the European Junior Championships have also been put on hold.
Artistic swimming was due to start the championships in Malta between 24-28 June, followed by the diving in Edinburgh from 30 June to 5 July.
Aberdeen was scheduled to host the swimming competition from 8-12 July.
LEN has said it will ‘assess with the individual organisers whether such events can be postponed to August-September 2020 or whether a different decision will have to be made’.
