In May 2022, The LEN Coaching & Education Commission was established with the primary objective of fostering the growth and education of coaches. The aim was to facilitate the development and education of aquatics coaches along their respective pathways and, through the ‘coach’s voice’, to provide technical guidance and advice to the LEN Bureau on the international competition calendar appertaining to LEN. The vision was of ‘A European aquatic coaching community working with and for each other, enabling and advocating for those coaches who are working within LEN nations to be actively supported and nurtured towards their full coaching potential’.

Since its inception, the commission has successfully engaged the European Aquatics coaching community, gaining substantial traction. Notably, in 2023, a series of clinics were organised under four key clusters (Top Elite Coaches’ Education, Elite Coaches’ Education, Age-Group Coaches’ Education, and Developmental Programmes – twinning most and least developed countries). Thirteen of these clinics, supported by World Aquatics under the Continental Support Programme, were conducted by European Aquatics, attracting 484 coaches and support staff.

The success of these initiatives highlighted the need to increase the commission scope even further by: 1) addressing the needs of additional stakeholders beyond coaches, such as athletes and officials; 2) providing a more comprehensive offer catering to all aquatic disciplines; 3) making available a more diverse portfolio, including certified courses, short courses, and higher-degree programmes; 4) embracing different forms of education (online, onsite, and hybrid formats), time management (self-paced, scheduled learning) and novel teaching-learning philosophies.

Moreover, under European Aquatics Strategy 2024-2030 – Pilar 1 (“Promoting all Aquatic Disciplines”), we are keen to promote innovation and the development of athletes, coaches, managers and officials within Europe by sharing our aquatics expertise (i.e. to establish a European Aquatics Academy and education and certification system to cater to the educational needs of coaches, officials and other stakeholders in a way that allows them to be officials at European level).