“The development strategy of the Azerbaijan Swimming Federation (ASF) covers a four-year period.”
Idman.biz, citing Report news agency, reports that ASF President Zaur Aliyev made this statement during the federation’s conference.
He spoke about upcoming innovations: “The strategy covers the next four years. We will work based on four principles: the development of swimming in Azerbaijan, increasing mass participation, achieving success in international competitions, and winning medals. We aim to involve more schoolchildren in this process, which will naturally be on a voluntary basis. In addition, we want to increase interest in swimming by organizing competitions and festivals among amateurs across the country.”
The federation head emphasized that there is no need to change the name of the organization: “We’ve studied the experience of other countries. In most places, the name remains as the Swimming Federation. Therefore, we didn’t see a need for change. If necessary in the future, we will consider it.”
The ASF President also stated that a new foreign head coach will be appointed to the national water polo team: “We’ve parted ways with the previous foreign head coach of the water polo team. Work is ongoing in this direction. The new head coach will also be a foreign specialist. Our staff will soon visit Croatia. We want to benefit from that country’s experience and will continue our search to select the right candidate. As for the swimming national team, Coach Rashad is continuing his work successfully. We are not considering any changes at the moment.”
Aliyev added that awareness campaigns will be conducted in schools: “Unfortunately, many young people who cannot swim end up drowning when trying to show off in front of their friends at the beach. We will constantly promote awareness about this on social media. However, I can't say how effective this will be, because other institutions should also be involved in awareness efforts. We want children to start learning how to swim in school, and we are already working in this direction. The Ministry of Emergency Situations has also done a lot of work in this area.”
Idman.biz
