Dilemma: beer or a medal?

The Sport Boulevard complex in Dordrecht is less than one year old and has one of the finest swimming pools in the Netherlands. During the EuroGames the complex is host to the swimming tournament: 374 participants, representing 62 sporting clubs from approximately 25 countries. The tournament was opened officially on Thursday afternoon spectacularly by the  Mayor of  Dordrecht, Arno Brok, and Olympic Silver medallist winner of Johan Kenkhuis in the presence of Rotterdam alderman Marco Florijn. All three of them being gay, the tournament started in a very gay fashion.

Gold, silver and bronze together

David from the beautiful city Valencia is sitting at a table with some friends, chatting and laughing. He only started swimming at a club a few years ago, but he already won a gold and a bronze medal at this EuroGames. Nacho from the equally beautiful city of Zaragoza did slightly better with a gold and a silver medal. Companion Jorge has not won anything yet, but for him the fun lies more in participating than in winning.  At least that’s what he says. “We enter in a tournament four or five times per year. When it is abroad we sometimes stay a little longer to see the sights”, says Nacho, while your reporter thinks: “The more Spaniards the better”.

Already three new Nordic region records were set at this edition of the EuroGames. The Stockholm Dolphins won gold in the 4x100 meter free style for men. They also won silver and set a new Nordic region in the 4 x 100 meter medley. As well as gold and a new record at 4x100 m free style 240+ (meaning that the team’s average age is at least 60 years. For Mats, Lars and Daniel from Stockholm these EuroGames are already a big success.

Tough choices

Mark and Arno also live in a beautiful city: Mannheim. Mark has a bronze medal hanging from his neck, but Arno missed his by 1/100^th of a second. It’s now hanging around a French neck. They came from Mannheim together wit a friend. They like to go to an international tournament, not only to enjoy their favourite sports, but also to party. Since Arno does not want to return home empty-handed, he has a dilemma: “What should I go for: the beer or the medal? They don’t mix very well. He has not decided yet, so we will have to wait and see.