Dear Mr President
Dear friends
First of all, on behalf of the International Water
Ski Federation let me thank you for accepting our request to meet
here in Lausanne to explain to you very briefly the aims and goals
of our organization and especially our main interest in getting
included in the Olympic Program of the year 2004 in Athens.
We all know Mr. President that it is a long and frustrating
process. I have gone through it for 7 years and know personally
how difficult it is to get included in the Olympic Program.
Nevertheless, your words of advise have always been
to have patience, the bus is full but stay in line. Mr. President,
since 1948, Water Ski has been touching the doors of the International
Olympic Committee. It has been half a century of hard work, dedication
and commitment to our cause. We are reaching the end of the century
and we are ad-portas of a new millennium. Many of our young generations
have lost the opportunity of competing at the Olympic Games. Water
Skiing has expanded throughout the world to nearly 90 member federations,
practiced by men and women in all five continents, a recreational
and competitive sport, family oriented, athletic, very T.V. friendly
with lots of action and colour and best of all, a strong supporting
industry. In the last six years we have developed new technologies
in order to make the sport fairer and easier to run and understand.
Automatic Speed Control for the boat and Video Jump Measurement
systems have been developed amongst others, bringing our sport
up-to-date and at the same level of development of other Olympic
sports.
The IWSF has reached today a high degree of maturity
and organization and waited patiently in line, sometimes looking
with envy how some sports are born and in the process of a few
years they become new Olympic events. We have waited and waited
patiently for 50 years, waiting an available seat on the bus and
I strongly believe that the IOC should recognize the efforts and
frustration of all these past years making us next December full
members of the Olympic family.
Finally, I would like to say a few words in our common language, Spanish:
Sr. Presidente, quiero en primer lugar agradecerle
toda su gentileza y amistad que me ha brindado desde que fui elegido
Presidente de la Federacion Internacional de Esqui Nautico y ahora
que soy nuevo Presidente del Comite Olimpico Colombiano.
Me dirigo a usted en Espanol porque es el idioma que nos une como hermanos.
He sido un Suramericano luchador por mi deporte y
los ideales olimpicos come usted lo ha visto y constatado a traves
de estos ultimos siete anos.
Déme usted hoy Senor Presidente la dicha y
la felicidad de ser el primer Suramericano en incluir un nuevo
deporte en el programa Olimpico. Seria tal vez uno de mis mayores
logros en mi carrera deportiva. Cuando me eligieron Presidente
de la IWSF en Austria en 1991 asumi el reto con dignidad y se
que usted Senor Presidente antes que termine su mandato me ayudara
a convertir el ESQUI NAUTICO en deporto Olimpico. Se que usted
no me defraudara.
Muchas gracias, y guarde usted todo mi respeto y
admiracion.
I want now to introduce to you Helena Kjellander,
Slalom World Champion 1997 and Chairman of our Athletes Commission,
who will say some words on behalf of all the 30'000'000 recreational
and competitive skiers throughout the world.