In his second edition of The Aquatic Games, 5-time Olympian Tony Azevedo has added swimming to the program. Azevedo launched The Games, conceived as an elite Olympic-style water polo tournament with an Opening Ceremonies, interactive workshops, on-deck entertainment and a medal/trophy awards finale, in 2017. 200 campers took part in the five-day event, with dozens of Olympians contributing to parts of the Games.
Azevedo has always envisioned The Games to be a multi-sport athletic event. He told SwimSwam:
“There will be participants from all over the world at The Aquatic Games. Our All-Star teams bring together athletes from Israel, Brazil, Hungary, and France. That means new faces, new styles of play, and new cultures. I want campers to get a sense of “Olympism.” So we’re bringing together sport, education, nutrition, dryland, mental fitness, college preparation, and more, through clinics and inspirational talks. These topics gave me an edge when I was their age and dreaming about playing at the next level. The Los Angeles Olympic Games are 10 years from now. If we can inspire these kids and get them to think like Olympians, who knows how many of them will be competing in 2028?”
The water polo program at the 2018 Aquatic Games will be held at Long Beach State University from June 29th through July 3rd, and will be open to boys and girls 13U and 11U. The swimming part will run from June 29th to July 1st and will include athletes aged 11-16. Azevedo, Jessica Hardy, Jason Lezak, and David Salo will work with the swimmers, and there will be cross-training with some of the athletes in the water polo program. Read more about who will be leading the athletes here: The Aquatic Games – Our Team
Find out more information by clicking here: https://theaquaticgames.com/
About Azevedo Water Polo:
Revolutionizing the sport of water polo: transforming how water polo is taught, developed and showcased around the world
One issue that I see with this is that there is a much bigger and more anticipated games
I applaud Tony for this event which as the article seems to indicate is primarily water polo focused, swimming secondary, and for KIDS ages 11-16. This is a fantastic way to gain more exposure, participation and attention for water polo and swimming pool centered sports.
The what?