Sparkes elected General Secretary of LEN
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David Sparkes
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UK Sport 05 October 2012
British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes has been elected as the new General Secretary of the European Swimming Federation (LEN). The election was held on Saturday (29 Sep) at the LEN Congress in Cascais, Portugal. The 2012 LEN Congress also saw a new President of the Federation elected with Italy’s Paolo Barelli succeeding Luxembourg’s Nory Kruchten.
As well as taking on his new role in Europe’s aquatics governing body, Sparkes has also been put forward as one of four European candidates to join the Bureau of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) next year in Barcelona. Great Britain currently has no representation on the FINA Bureau and the term would be from 2013-2017.
UK Sport has invested in British Swimming’s international relations strategy over many years to help build positive working relationships with both LEN and FINA. The 2013 LEN Congress will be hosted by British Swimming and held in Edinburgh on 28 September.
Speaking on his new LEN role David Sparkes said: “It is a great honour for me to take up my role as General Secretary of LEN and to work with my colleagues from around Europe to guide the future policy and strategy of swimming.
“I have been able to take up this role through the support of UK Sport over a number of years as we have pursued British Swimming’s International Influence Strategy, with everyone in British Swimming working as one team towards our long term objective.”
Simon Morton, Director of Major Events and International Relations at UK Sport, said: “I wish to congratulate David on behalf of UK Sport on this significant appointment, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication he has shown in his role at British Swimming.
“Following London 2012, this will be an important period for many of the UK’s governing bodies as a number of International Federations will have elections for their executive boards and councils in the coming weeks. UK representatives, as part of their UK Sport supported international relations strategy, will be targeting high level positions in various International Federations. We wish them all the very best of luck.”
