WELCOME
Dear Friends,We are proud to present the first European Diving Championships to be held on its own. And we are happy to bring it to a historic city where sports tradition is so deeply rooted. Italian Diving owes much to the capital of the Piemonte region.
It is also the first LEN Event of 2009 and we are looking forward to being witnesses to the evolution and progress of our most elegant continental athletes as they dive into the new four-year period that will take them to London in 2012.
The Piscina Stadio Monumentale is a great venue and Torino a great place to host this Diving celebration. Its recent Olympic experience and success are a guarantee for the organisation and the enthusiastic participation of the people of the city.
We thank our sponsors Arena, Omega and EBU for their faithful dedication to European Aquatics and the Organising Committee and the Italian Swimming Federation for their hard work in hosting the inaugural edition of these Championships.
Deep gratitude as well to the authorities of the City and Province of Torino and the Region of Piemonte for welcoming us so warmly. Best wishes to all participants and diving fans.
Nory KRUCHTEN - President of Ligue Européenne de Natation
On behalf of the Italian Swimming Federation, I would like to thank the Ligue
Européenne de Natation and in particular its President, Mr. Nory Kruchten, its
Honorary Life President Bartolo Consolo and the entire LEN Bureau for awarding
Italy with the honor of organizing the first European Diving Championships.The Italian Swimming Federation and the city of Turin are very proud and pleased to host such a prestigious event and are ready to celebrate it with the commitment, dedication and support of its skilled team officials, judges, coaches and athletes.
The event will take place from the 1st to the 5th of April at the Stadio Monumentale, originally built during the fascist era and recently renovated without affecting its original architecture. This venue is the heart and soul of Turin’s swimming history as it witnessed the talent of Giorgio Cagnotto, Head Coach of the Italian team and four times Olympic medalist between 1972 and 1980. The Stadio Monumentale features a 33m swimming pool with 800 seats, two 3m springboards, three 1m springboards and one diving structure for the new generation dives with a 3m-wide platform for synchro dives.
Thanks to the impeccable work of FIN Piemonte Regional Committee, Regione Piemonte, Provincia di Torino and City of Torino, the Monumentale will host the first international event of the new LEN 4 year period, featuring the grace and elegance of the best European divers including the Italian Team at full strength, with European Champion and world bronze medalist Tania Cagnotto, and Olympic medalists Gleb Galperin, Dmitriy Dobroskok, Dmitry Sautin, Yuriy Kunakov, Julia Pakhalina and Anastasia Pozdnyakova from Russia; Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov from Ukraine and Ditte Kotzian and Heike Fischer from Germany.
I would also like to thank the host broadcaster of the event RAI, for their high technical quality standards and the wide audience and share recorded during all the most important international diving events. Their participation always means entertainment and media attention.
I am sure these European Diving Championships will be remembered for the beauty of the competitions and the organization and hospitality of Turin.
Dear and beloved guests, I wish all of you to enjoy this fantastic event. We look forward to seeing you at the Monumentale and… Forza Azzurri !
Paolo Barelli - President of the Italian Swimming Federation
AAfter almost
a year, the Monumentale swimming pool will be once again the scene of a major
sporting event: the European Diving Championships. For the first time they will
be detached from the other swimming disciplines.This year Piedmont will be hosting several important events: the “Six Nations Juniores” of swimming and Final Four of the Waterpolo Italian Cup in Novara, the eleventh edition of the Meeting of swimming in Mondovì. At the same time Turin will be doing its best to welcome the best divers in Europe, many of whom won some medals at the last Olympics in Beijing.
For this trust given to us, I would like to thank the Ligue Européenne de Natation and the Italian Swimming Federation: after the success, last April, at the Italian Diving Championships, they have given us something even bigger and we are proud of the work we are doing to make this event unforgettable.
Some special thanks to: the City of Turin, which allowed us to use the Monumentale swimming pool for free; the Region of Piemonte (Piedmont) for having granted us the opportunity of organising such a great event; and the Province of Turin.
I am sure that this event will be a success because there are so many people working for its success.
I will do my best wishes to all the athletes who will take part in the competitions and a I would like to greet all those who will show their passion for sport on the sidelines of the Monumentale swimming pool, in order to encourage their champions.
Enzo Bellardi - President of the Piemonte Committee of the Italian Swimming Federation
The European Diving Championship is absolutely one of the most interesting sport events offered by Turin during 2009.Turin is glad to host it, because the history shows it is particularly tied to the diving world. At the Stadio Monumentale swimming pool , hosting in these days some challenges for continental medals, Mr. Giorgio Cagnotto, from Turin, started his career as diver. On the occasion of one Olympic Games, he won four medals and in 1991 he bacame part of the International Swimming Hall of Fame together with other water sport athletes.
Our Turin of diving not only looks back at the past, but today the Stadio Monumentale swimming pool is also a sport school for many young divers who could, as we hope, follow in Giorgio Cagnotto, his daughter Tania and other Italian champions' footsteps.
For the first time at the European Diving Championship, diving won't separate program and stage from swimming and other water sports: Turin is pleased to represent these absolute news.
To conclude, I would like to wish all the athletes to meet their targets and I hearty welcome all the participants.
Sergio Chiamparino - Mayor of the City of Turin
