Almost Christmas, will UWH be the turkey ?

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At Christmas, the tradition is formal, for a good meal, you need a good capon or a good turkey accompanied by its stuffing and especially a good glass of wine to be happy. This year, the wine will be to forget that the last official national competition took place… More than a year ago ! Yes, it has been over a year since there has been a national competition in underwater hockey. A normal situation, due to the current global pandemic, EXCEPT…

Except that while all clubs are currently at a standstill and cannot train, other disciplines are not in the same situation. This is the case of finswimming, for example, which is lucky enough to be able to organize the meeting of High Level Athletes, in Rennes, this weekend… Indeed, some finswimming athletes are considered as top-level athletes, unfortunately hockey players are only average-level athletes… A specific situation which should perhaps change? Aren’t hockey players, at least those of first division, high level athletes?

Shouldn’t we have a pole of high-level players? Without this status, it is impossible to access the pools and without training, it makes sense that there cannot be any competition… Indeed, the problem does not come from the infrastructures, when we see that it is the swimming pool of Bréquigny, used to hockey, which hosted this Meeting of finswimming. As for freediving, the 2021 calendar is indeed available and we can say that it is well filled… The problem does not come either from the media coverage of the sport, when we see that the European Underwater Rugby Cup will take place in 2021…

By the way, what about the European Cup of Hockey? Logically, it takes place every two years and the last one took place in 2019… No announcements, no candidacies, no news… All is for the best of all possible worlds. According to our information, the organization of Euro 2019 in Castellon has hurt the finances of the Spanish federation and if no country comes forward, it will not take place. Just so you know, to organize a Euro, you need at least 5 nations ready to participate…

The turkey, once cooked, must brown to have a very crispy skin …

Back home, nothing new on the horizon. CMAS has just officially announced the postponement of the 2021 World Cup for the umpteenth time. On January 16, 2021, the federations will have to answer 5 questions regarding the organization of the various deadlines :

• Should the Master World Cup continue to take place at the same time as the Elite World Cup?
• Postponement of the Elite World Cup for 2022 or 2023?
• If separation, postponement of the Master World Cup in 2022 or 2023?
• The admission age for the Masters at 34 years and over?
• The young world: U19 and U24? U19 and U25 (just for 2022)? U19, U22 and U25 (just for 2022)?

In France, the question of recovery will depend on the provision of pools for the various associations… Another great adventure in perspective!