The Basque Country to host the XXI Atlantic Watersports Games 2015

• Orio and Zarautz will be the venues from 14 to 16 July
• Nearly a thousand young athletes from 20 European Atlantic Regions to compete in different watersports
• The initiative aims to encourage cultural and sport exchanges, and foster friendship between the participants.

The Basque Government’s Director for Youth and Sport, Jon Redondo, was in San Sebastián this morning to present the XXI Atlantic Watersports Games, which will be held in Orio and Zarautz from 14 to 16 July.Nearly a thousand young athletes, aged between 14 and 16, from 20 European Atlantic regions, will gather in the coastal towns to compete in sailing, surfing, rowing, canoeing, swimming and underwater activities.  The Basque Country previously hosted these games in 2008, when they were held in Getxo and Sopelana.Paco Quiroga, Chairman of the Atlantic Games International Committee, Javier Zuriarrain, Chairman of the Basque Sport Federations Union,  Ikerne Badiola, Gipuzkoa Provincial Councillor for Culture, Youth and Sport, and the mayors of Orio and Zarautz, Beñat Solabarrieta and Juan Luis Illarramendi were also at this morning’s presentation.

Once the selection process had been completed, Orio & Zarautz was announced as the successful bid at the Paris Boat Show, which Jon Redondo, the Basque Government’s Director for Youth and Sport, Rafa Munilla, the Director of the 2015 Atlantic Watersports Games, attended, along with representatives of Gipuzkoa Provincial Council and of the two towns’ councils. The partnership agreement between the International Committee and the new Organising Committee was signed in the French capital. The Organising Committee stressed that it aimed to organise the best ever Atlantic Games, a great spectacle featuring the sea, where the spotlight is on the athletes, young people and the general public.

This summer, these towns of Gipuzkoa will become a watersports party. The Basque Country, which already hosted these Games in Getxo and Sopelana in 2008, aims to be among the top teams in this friendship, cultural and sporting event.

The Atlantic Watersports Games at Orio and Zarautz will yet again attract a large number of athletes and delegations. Nearly a thousand participants from 20 Atlantic regions will compete in the above categories and the Basque Country will thus be in the sporting spotlight this summer, where the emphasis will be on cordial coexistence and friendly competition.   The Basque Country will be competing alongside athletes from Ireland,  Galicia, País Wales, Scotland, Aquitaine, Brittany, Normandy, Pays de la Loire, North Portugal,  Asturias, Cantabria, Belgium, Cornwall and the Isle of Man,  with Catalonia and Andorra as guest countries.

The Basque surfing team were the champions at the XIX Atlantic Watersports Games in 2013, which were held at Viana do Castelo, in northern Portugal, and at the 2014 Games in the Pays de la Loire. The Basque surfing team are yet again the favourite as it has been on the podium at most events. The Basque Country will be the favourite in four classes: surfing, long board, body board and stand up racing.

Set up in 1995

The Atlantic Watersports Games were set up in Brittany in 1995 with the aim of forging in a single event the cultural, tourist and sports promotion of the regions and nationalities of Atlantic Europe. The best way of doing so was to compete in those sports most closely linked to the sea: surfing, sailing, rowing, canoeing and underwater activities.

The Atlantic Watersports Games are recognised by the International Federations of the different watersports and are organised under the aegis of an International Committee made up of four representatives of each member country or region. This International Committee publishes general regulations that establish the different venue and dates for the Games and focuses on ensuring a successful outcome.

The different hosts of the previous 20 Atlantic Watersports Games include Pays de La Loire, Brittany, Wales, Galicia, Cornwall, Scotland, Asturias, North Portugal, Ireland, Pays de Morlaix (Brittany), O Salnés (Pontevedra), Gijón and Bizkaia (Getxo-Sopelana in 2008).

The Basque Country in the Games

The Basque Country has been closely and traditionally linked to the Atlantic Europe both historically and culturally. Right from the start of the Atlantic Watersports Games, it has therefore been involved and taken part in them in all its organisational, cultural and sporting aspects. The Basque Country has played a key role in this competition and is increasingly known for the top-level quality of its athletes, as could be seen, for example, in Gijón, Cornwall and Brittany, where the Basque team clearly stood out. The Basque Country is increasingly more a key player in these Games.

The Basque Country was chosen as the organiser in 2008 (Getxo-Sopelana) thanks to its infrastructure and geographical facilities. The bid was chosen over those from Portugal and Ireland, the other two countries that were competing to organise the 2008 Atlantic Games.  Eight years ago, the Basque Sports Federation Union became a full member of the International Committee of the Games on an equal footing as the founding members. In 2015, the Basque Country is again hosting the Games, with Orio and Zarautz as the venues.