European Aquatics has announced a significant expansion of para aquatic sports, with para swimming appearing at the European Championships for the first time at Paris 2026, new regulations for para artistic swimming, para open water and para water polo, and the full integration of para athletes and Special Olympics competitors into the 2026 Masters Championships.
For President Antonio Silva, these changes are the practical expression of a commitment that has been central to his leadership from the start.
“At the heart of our 2024–2030 strategy is a simple idea: aquatics must be accessible for all. Inclusion is not an add-on, it is a core pillar of how we grow the sport across Europe.”
Silva’s starting point is that European Aquatics needs to update what it considers its core business. Para disciplines are not, in his view, a specialist offshoot to be managed separately. They are part of what the sport is.
“We are actively expanding the definition of our sport. By bringing para disciplines and new formats into European Aquatics, we are building a structure that reflects society as it is, not as it used to be.”
That means full integration, not accommodation. At the 2026 Masters Championships, para athletes and Special Olympics competitors will compete at shared venues under the same conditions as everyone else, not in a parallel programme, which has tended to be the case at previous championships from across the aquatics family. Silva is direct about what this signals.
“The inclusion of Para and Special Olympics athletes in our flagship events demonstrates what the European sport model stands for: solidarity, openness and equal opportunity. It is about competing together, not separately.”
Silva is aware that changing competition formats is only part of the work. European Aquatics has invested in coach education, classification development and inclusive governance, and has formed partnerships with Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, World Para Swimming and the International Paralympic Committee to support delivery across the continent.
“Partnerships like this allow us to combine expertise and reach new communities.” He said.
The collaboration with Special Olympics Europe Eurasia is particularly significant, creating pathways for athletes with intellectual disabilities through unified competitions and shared education programmes. These are communities that have historically had limited access to mainstream aquatics structures.
Silva’s case for inclusion is also a case for the long-term health of the sport. Broader participation means more athletes, more relevance and stronger foundations for the future.
“By making aquatics more inclusive, we are also making it more resilient. A sport that welcomes everyone is a sport that grows, innovates and remains meaningful for generations.”
His goal is for para sport to become unremarkable within the European Aquatics programme, and almost a non-story due to its regularity.
“The future is fully integrated. We see para-swimming and other para disciplines becoming a natural part of the European Aquatics programme, from grassroots to elite competition. That is the direction of travel, and we are committed to it.”
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
