The crisis in the swimming union has not yet been resolved and the problems continue to pile up, and as published in ONE, the Israeli championship is in danger of being cancelled, after the union’s management did not reach an agreement regarding the method of the competition and its regulations. Following this, a special meeting is expected to be held with the participation of the representatives of the centers in order to reach a solution so as not to harm the swimmers.
The people of Maccabi and Hapoel will meet today (Monday) to clear things up, with the aim of holding the Israeli championship that was combined with the trails competition that will determine which of the Israeli swimmers will achieve the criteria for the world championship. The unification of the competitions, according to union officials, was due to consideration of a tight schedule, and therefore an attempt was made to use the previous regulations written by Ehud Segal and Dave Marsh, but this was not accepted with understanding by all members of the board. In the meantime, the mess is celebrating and there is an exchange of letters between the parties, including quite a few exchanges of accusations.
After the letter issued by the management of the Swimming Association to the representatives of the Maccabi Associations, immediately afterwards the response of the Maccabi Associations was sent in a letter with green lettering. “If you want to make changes to the competition program, they should be done with a broad consensus, during a professional discussion with senior swimming coaches and associations in Israel, and certainly not in a political coup. The program for the competition was not approved by the management. This should be the Israel Championship and not the Trails, the Trails next year and the two competitions must not be merged into one,” the response reads.
“The plan that was in place throughout the years, except for 2021, is the one that should be as long as nothing else was agreed upon at the beginning of the year. The year 2021 was the year of Corona, therefore the changes made to the bylaws were under the auspices of the Corona and there was no reason to appeal a one-time change that does not project into the future,” Maccabi representatives added in their letter. “It is impossible to achieve all the goals in one competition, the Israeli championship, trails and criteria, but unfortunately you chose to combine them and fail the associations and the swimmers. This format is not accepted in the world. Therefore, it is clear that the good of swimming is not in front of your eyes and your goal is political.”
A source in the management on behalf of Maccabi added and claimed: “The Israeli championship should be the Israeli championship. A pool can never be a tub. The Israeli Championship is a much bigger competition. We resent this thing because it doesn’t make sense. In September 2021, we were in the Corona period and it is impossible to compare what was decided there in one go to what they want to decide now. Since September there has been no professional discussion with Dave Marsh. We will not agree to that. We want there to be a professional competition.”
As mentioned, following the disputes in the union, Maccabi and Hapoel personnel are expected to meet for a discussion in order to settle matters. Senior officials from the centers are also supposed to sit in the meeting in order to calm the spirits and find a solution, and this so that the Israeli Championship will be held as a series.
