#UnordinaryIdeas #UnordinaryPlaces #SportEventsFaroeIslands
The Faroese Swimming Association
Rókur í Jákupsstovu is the President of the Swimming Association, and he is also an Ambassador for Visit Faroe Islands meetings. During the last Ambassador Day in Tórshavn he mentioned that International Swimming Champions are more and more attracted to come to the Faroe Islands to train there in peace and with focus. With a new pool project having been recently confirmed by the government, there will be even better training conditions in the future.
Currently, the most accomplished Faroese athlete is the elite and Olympic swimmer Pál Joensen, who has caught the world’s attention with his impressive competitive achievements. Pál Joensen comes from the small town of Vágur, located on the southernmost island of Suðuroy. Although his local swimming pool was only 25 meters long, he has slowly but surely worked his way into the international elite in swimming, having won medals in several regional and international swimming competitions. Today Pal’s old training base in Vágur has a 50-metre swimming pool named after the renowned swimmer Palshøll.
The Faroese people have always loved swimming—the first official swimming pool was already built in Klaksvík around 1905. Tórshavn municipality opened an outdoor swimming pool in 1930 which was used a lot by the locals, but which was closed in winter months, because of the cold weather. In 1982 Tórshavn municipality build a big swimming hall in Gundadalur. This swimming hall will now be rebuilt, so that it will match the 50 m swimming pool in Vágur and will be ready to host many international competitions in the future.
If you are engaged in meetings or conferences around international swimming and aquatics topics, get in touch with Rókur on LinkedIn
Some more reading around the topic: https://www.swimmersdaily.com and a book on Pál Joensen by Rod Gilmour:
In addition to swimming and football, Faroese athletes have also gained international attention in the realms of rowing!
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This story is part of the 2019/2020 Ambassador Initiative of Visit Faroe Islands Meetings to share information about leading knowledge clusters on the Islands that might be relevant for international meeting planners and business communities.
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