With just 100 days to go until the 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships Barcelona 2018, the anticipation and excitement continue to build. To mark this milestone, we are proud to unveil a unique picture with the three main members of the Organising Committee, Marta Carranza, Enric Bertrán and Fernando Carpena, at the iconic Bernat Picornell Pools.

The three main members of the Organising Committee, Marta Carranza, Enric Bertrán and Fernando Carpena

The organization reaches the countdown with all the projects underway in their production stage. The medals will be the next key element to be presented to the public. The event will take place on April 16th at the Barcelona headquarters of Allianz, the key partner of Barcelona 2018.

The competition schedule is about to be released as well. The 28 participating teams (16 men’s and 12 women’s) met their first rivals in the draw ceremony held in early March at the RTVE-Catalunya Studios.

In the men’s category, the four groups of the preliminary stage are:
Group A: Germany, Italy, Georgia and Hungary.
Group B: Montenegro, France, Malta and Spain.
Group C: Croatia, the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece
Group D: Russia, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia

In the women’s category the groups are:
Group A: Greece, Italy, France, Israel, Croatia, the Netherlands
Group B: Russia, Serbia, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Spain

From July 14th to 28th, 92 matches will be played, 78 of which will be aired and available to the 23 channels that have acquired the rights.

Barcelona 2018 will be the major water polo event of the season, a halfway point between Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The top seven men’s teams from Rio (Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Hungary, Greece and Spain) and four of the best five women’s squads (Italy, Russia, Hungary and Spain) will compete for European glory at the Picornell.