IPC Swimming European Championships Set For Record Levels of Media Coverage

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming European Championships which get underway this weekend are set to receive more media coverage than ever before.

More than 85 journalists have been accredited for the event which will see around 440 of Europe’s top swimmers from 36 countries compete in Berlin, Germany between 3-9 July.

German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF will cover the Championships throughout the week in various programmes, such as the “Sportschau” on Sunday, 3 July, at 18:00. The German public can also watch the event live on www.spobox.tv.

Channel 4, the UK rights holding broadcaster for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, will be present with various crews to create daily video clips for the Channel 4 website. They will also produce an hour long highlights show that will be broadcasted after the event. The BBC is attending during the week to produce three live radio shows for BBC 5 Live Sports Extra and news clips for the website. Spanish broadcaster TVE will also broadcast the daily highlights programme.

The event, which is one of the last major gatherings of international athletes, ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, is also set for global coverage. YouTube, the world’s leading online platform for watching and sharing videos, is to host live coverage from the Championships each day at www.youtube.com/paralympicsporttv. In addition the channel will carry athlete interviews and videos on demand of all races from the German capital.

Craig Spence, IPC Media & Communications Senior Manager, said: “It is sign of the growth in popularity of Paralympic Sport that the European Championships are set to generate record amounts of media coverage for a regional swimming Championships.

“This event acts as a curtain raiser to the London 2012 Paralympic Games which are just over 400 days away. I am confident that all those journalists attending Berlin will witness some truly brilliant stories unfolding in front of their eyes that will translate superbly to their many readers, viewers and listeners across the world.”

The 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships Opening Ceremony takes place tomorrow (2 July) at the Swimming and Diving Centre in Europasportpark before competition begins on Sunday.

Ahead of tomorrow’s Opening Ceremony a press conference will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Swimming and Diving Centre and will be attended by IPC President Sir Philip Craven, DBS President Friedhelm-Julius Beucher and German swimmers Kirsten Bruhn and Lucas Ludwig.