LEN Evrópska sundsambandið hefur sent frá sér tilkynningu um að næsta Evrópumeistaramót í 25 metra laug verður haldið 15. til 18. janúar 2015 í borginni Netanya í Ísrael.  Fréttatilkynning frá LEN er birt hér að neðan í heild.

The LEN Bureau chose Netanya (ISR) to host the European Short Course Swimming Championships to be held on 15-18 January 2015. Israel will stage such a large-scale swimming event for the very first time.
Representatives of the Israeli Swimming Federation and the city of Netanya presented a rather impressive bid to the LEN Bureau in Herning (during the short course Europeans in December 2013) and the members – through mail votes – made an unanimous decision to award Netanya the right to host the next European Short Course Swimming Championships in January 2015.
The venue of the event is going to be the brand new swimming complex of the Wingate Institute. The latter serves as Israel’s National Institute for Sport & Physical Education and it covers a 120-acre area on the Mediterranean beach, 20km north of Tel-Aviv, just a short drive from Netanya’s city centre.
LEN President Paolo Barelli hailed the future organisers for their magnificent bid. “For a continental organisation it is highly important to have more and more major events in new cities, new countries as this further boosts the development and promotion of swimming” Paolo Barelli said. “The Israeli Swimming Federation has proved their capability to organise major international events by hosting several open water swimming events in Eilat. Now they enter to the elite club of organisers who stage the biggest swimming showcases.”
The LEN President also referred to the recent development of Israeli swimming. “Israel showed tremendous development in the past couple of years”, Mr. Barelli added. “Their athletes started to win medals at the European events, so I’m sure that the local fans will fill the stands of the fantastic new complex in Netanya. Also, LEN is always happy to see new pools being built as they can serve as strong bases not even for the given nations but also for the entire European aquatics. We can’t wait to see the start of our European Championships in Netanya.”
The new complex at the Wingate Institute features an Olympic-size pool with 10 lanes and 3m depth, backed by the latest built-in filtration systems, an 8-lane 50m pool and a 6-lane 25m pool. The Israeli Winter Nationals, held in the Aquatic Centre for the very first time, saw 15 national records broken as well as a handful of age group records. The main pool can accommodate 3,000 fans who can watch the races from close range which ensures a great atmosphere.
Noam Zwi, President of the Israeli Swimming Association is convinced that the next edition of the s/c Europeans will also bring record-breaking performances. “Our association in cooperation with the city of Netanya and the Sport Ministry of Israel are committed to stage organise a significant and unforgettable celebration of swimming” Mr Zwi said. “We are sure that the new Olympic Aquatic Centre will see World and European records falling during the short course European Championships as it is one of the fastest pools in the world. Israel loves swimming, our swimmers will be ready, our fans will be ready and we, organisers will also be ready to welcome Europe’s best swimmers in Netanya!”
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The event might also be a great winter escape for most of the participants as the local
climate is rather mild even in January: the temperatures average 10 degrees and people
can enjoy mostly sunny days alongside the Mediterranean Sea, in an area which is
regarded one of the most beautiful sites of Israel.