Coronavirus Update: Spanish Sports Council To Evaluate Situation April 14

Per Spanish outlet 20 Minutos, Spanish Sports Council President Irene Lozano announced earlier this week that the various presidents for the different national sports governing bodies will hold a meeting come April 14 in order to evaluate the COVID-19 situation in the nation. It has not been specified, however, whether that meeting will take place in-person or if it will be held remotely.

Earlier this month, Fernando Carpena, President of the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation (RFEN), issued an official statement in regards to the current situation that the nation faces as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Spanish federation posted a video to their website in which Carpena has turned to Spain’s swimming community asking for them to take care of themselves and their families, while also following the protocols established by the Spanish government.

Carpena’s message translates as follows:

“Allow me to turn to you two and a half weeks after the confinement period began. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the employees at the federation, who with great effort are helping the federation out from home while also taking care of their families.

Of course, my words of courage to athletes and technical staff. We must keep the flame alive as we will have new goals very shortly. My words of courage go out to the different areas that make up the federation too for all the work they are doing in order to stay connected with the wide range of sectors that make up our federation.

To my fellow members of the Executive Committee, who are permanently evaluating the circumstances. Ican’t forget and don’t want to forget about the club teams and local swimming federations who like the Spanish federation are going through some tough times. My best wishes.

I also want to mention that our coordinating efforts with the Spanish Sports Council (Consejo Superior de Deportes, CSD) as well as with Spain’s Olympic Committee and the Spanish Sports Association is gratifying and quite necessary during this time. Thanks to them for their advice and for easing the situation for us.”

As the pandemic continues to spread worldwide, we reported that the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation donated its hypoxic generators in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.

These generators are usually located at the Sant Cugat del Vallés High-Performance Center in the Spanish province of Barcelona, where a great majority of Spain’s national swimming team trains, including the reigning 200-butterfly Olympic champion Mireia Belmonte.

Mireia Belmonte was slated to vie for a spot on her 4th straight Olympic squad, which has been rescheduled to start July 23 and come to a close on Aug. 8, 2021. Belmonte currently holds top 10 world rankings this season in four events; the 400 free (5th), 800 free (4th), 1500 free (9th), and the 400 IM (4th). With these rankings, and several more nation-leading times this season she will have a clear shot at the team, along with several potential podium finishes.

Belmonte would have been joined by many other of Spain’s top swimmers including the rest of the 9-athlete roster who represented Spain at last year’s World Champs:

Spain has been on national lockdown since March 15 and is planning to remain as such until April 29, per Spanish outlet El País.

According to the website worldometers.info, the nation stands second in terms of total cases associated with COVID-19 as they have reported a total of 163,027 infections and 16,606 deaths.

During these past few days, the nation has seen a decrease in the number of fatalities, reaching its lowest daily death toll since March 26, according to El País. However, yesterday’s records show a new increase in the number of fatalities.