Thank you Oulu – Thank you Finland – Thank you TUL

ALL RESULTS

The great efforts paid off
Actually, the Games in Oulu should have taken place already in 2020. As for so many other organizers, Oulu has had to postpone its Games because of Covid-19. "Everything was ready and set, until unfortunately we also had to pull the ripcord and postpone our Games indefinitely," says Antti Kempas. "But that only spurred us on even more. We used the time to tweak a lot of little screws and fine-tune everything." The result was perfect swimming competitions that left nothing to be desired.

Antti is also satisfied with the number of participants: "We wanted to bring at least 200 guests to us in the high north. We exceeded that with 227 and are proud that we were able to put together such a great offer and that the response was accordingly great." Oulu is definitely worth a trip even without being the northernmost major city in Europe and as an "exotic" destination away from the holiday mainstream: "I think this event was good advertising for our region and hope that there is a corresponding incentive for some participants to visit us again."

 "My special thanks go to the resident sports clubs Haukiputaan Heitto, Oulun Lohet and Kempeleen Pyrint, who did an incredible job setting up the venue and getting the pool in super condition," Antti continued. "Without the many helpers and volunteers, we would not have had such a great event. I am absolutely satisfied and would also like to thank especially the many referees, who supported our event in the best possible way. A swimming event needs an insane number of staff, and everyone was enthusiastic and fully committed."

Paralympic Sports in CSIT
A major theme of CSIT in the upcoming events is the integration of disability sports, at the latest from the 2023 World Sports Games in Rome. It is a wish and a big goal of CSIT President Bruno Molea to anchor disability sports in CSIT Games in the long term. A first step was the participation of Marco Lijoi at the Single Championships Swimming in Oulu. The 34-year-old Italian from AICS is visually impaired and successfully competed in Finland in the 200 breaststroke and 200 backstroke events.

All pictures by ©Henri Luoma