Sports

The Thirty-seventh swiming gala of the INF-FNI in Amersfoort in the Netherlands started this year with more or less than two hundred people. Thirty-four volunteers,forty supporters or accompanying persons, more than a hundred swimmers and two officials of the INF.

It was the treasurer who came to visit us and who had the honour of opening this 37th swimming gala in that awesome Olympic swimming pool at Amersfoort.

Eight swimming lanes, the timekeepers, the judges,the hostesses, the speakers male as well as female, the I.T. people, the barmen and the waiters of the restaurant, everything was there to please and to satisfy the participants. We had the complete installation at our disposal together with sauna, sun tropical swimming pool, etc,etc.

Very soon the team coaches gathered together to listen to the latest instructions. Right away after that we had the first start.  It was again Cor, the treasurer, who handed out the first series of medals. He enjoyed doing it.  At midday we had a lunch of an hour and then off again up to the final at four o'clock.  The buses were already waiting for the trip of one hour back to the holiday centre where we were located.

We had to change quickly for the evening gala at six-thirty. Everybody gathered together in a very large dining room for the continuation of the distribution of the medals and cups before I could close this thrity-seventh tournament of the  international swimming gala.

This was also the moment for all the representatives of the federations to offer the traditional gifts and to thank the organisation for their excellent preparation of this well organised competition.

Of course it is again the DFK who went home with the maximum of trophies, OK they came with a lot of participants and of course they deserve it. Of course this should motivate the others to come with more participants and even better prepared next year.

Before we started to enjoy this excellent meal, Jim, the Sports Officer from CCBN invited us unofficially for the next gala in two thousand and nine in Great Britain and I took the opportunity to present the two presidents who participated in this event and also swum. These were Angela RUSSELL, newly elected at the British federation and our friend for ever Gianfranco RIBOLZI, president of the FENAIT.

Congratulations to everyone and thank you to the organisers and to the participants and see you next year on the other side of the Channel.

Roger VIOLA Sports Officer INF-FNI