Unique Medals, Mascot Naming & Sustainability Among Key Initiatives At SC Worlds In Budapest

Courtesy: Szabolcs Birkás – Hungarian Swimming Federation/LOC Head of Marketing & Ticketing

Almost 50 days have passed since the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m), were held in Budapest. There were countless articles written about the amazing performances in the pool, about the unique number of World Records set (30) at the Duna Aréna and it was also great to read a volunteer’s report, and how much Kevin enjoyed the experience supporting at a sporting event of such magnitude.

Since I joined the Hungarian Swimming Federation in 2018, I have shared some behind the scenes stories about some of the 10+ international meets, which we hosted during that time span, staging all possible swimming events (World Aquatics Championships, World Junior Swimming Championships, Swimming World Cups both pool and open water, European Aquatics Championships in a bubble environment…) as the leading body of the Local Organizing Committee.

This time around let me present you three initiatives, which might not have been spotted by everyone, even if they were aimed at elevating the standard and generating lasting memories for athletes and coaches alike.

1. A unique medal set

As a novelty, the shape, and the design of the three medals presented to the top three finishers were created to be different and yet matching at the same time. Obviously, we have kept the basic, traditional colours, so gold, silver and bronze but on the respective pieces different parts of the Chain Bridge (it being one of the most well-known landmarks of Budapest) were shown. While the bridge is recognisable on a single piece, one may see it in its’ fully glory once the three medals are placed side by side, which happens when the three medallists come together at the end of the victory ceremony and present their medals for a celebratory photo. This specific moment captures a symbol of friendship and shows the uniting power of sport, which connects even the most distinct nations. It was just a cherry on top that the Chain bridge links the two parts of the city, Buda and Pest for exactly for 175 years, so this symbol on our medal set and on our event logo also nicely commemorates this anniversary. As it turns out Noe Ponti was so enthusiastic about the Chain Bridge motif that he even had himself tattooed with this symbol.

2. Coach, the lion mascot

One might be confused as to what a lion has to do with Hungary, but the concept of the mascot is also linked to the Chain Bridge. Ever since the 1849 inauguration of the bridge 4 lions have been guarding it, two lions at each end. So, finding a mascot was relatively easy, but to name it, that’s always very tricky, as the organizers need to address both the taste of local fans and that of the international visitors. Finally the great idea came up to give the name “Coach” to the lion. This way we were able to pay tribute to the coaching community who work tirelessly together day in and day out with, and for their athletes, which requires incredible commitment and dedication from both parties. During the event we have invited 4 coaches (to match the number of Lions at the Chain bridge) to share their experience about what their jobs means to them. Please enjoy the video including these distinguished professionals: Janelle Pallister OLY (High Performance Coach, Swimming Australia, featured in the picture below with daughter Lani), Fabrizio Antonelli (Pool and open water swimming coach, Italy), James Gibson OLY (Team GB/World Aquatics) and Prof. dr. Csaba Sós OLY (Head coach of Swim Team Hungary).

3. Involving athletes in throwing away plastic bottles

During sporting events the organizers need to offer clean drinking water to athletes and to the many accredited people who work behind the scenes. As Nongfu Spring and World Aquatics have extended their partnership our LOC was provided with plentiful quantities of 380ml drinking water. Since sustainable event management has been on the agenda of our LOC, particularly considering that the Hungarian Swimming Federation was the first aquatic federation to become a signatory to the Sports for Nature Framework (S4N), we have identified a few options to act in line with the 4th principle of S4N, to “Educate and inspire positive action for nature across and beyond sport”.

• We have requested the modification of our product range by decreasing the number of 380ml bottles and by asking for 12,9l water jugs and we have prepared refill stations for water bottles.
• We have signed an agreement with Zöldövezet Társulás (Green Area association), who have very dedicated volunteers and staff to recollect and reuse plastic bottles. They have previously supported events like the 2022 FINA World Championships and the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
• On the official event website of the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) we published a few short educational articles, which we also shared on a free mobile app, mainly targeted at the almost 3000 school children (mostly 10-16y olds) whom we welcomed on weekday mornings.
• We managed to raise the bar of our sustainability education by following the advice of Benjamin Franklin “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
  • First, we prepared a recollection box of unused lanyards in decent condition, as we opted for a generic World Aquatics branded version instead of an event branded one.
  • Second, we provided basketball backboards above the plastic bottle selective bins and thus created a fun activity aimed at involving athletes in selective plastic bottle collection. In this video Olympic champion and brand ambassador to the event Hubert Kós had a match against Jack Alexy: https://fb.watch/wEXz8kw-Cu/