NuotHandy Cup 2000: Promoting Accessibility and Awareness Through Swimming

A significant opportunity to raise awareness not only among industry professionals but also among the general public about the still widespread issue of architectural barriers. This is the purpose of the event «NuotHandy Cup 2000», a swimming relay for people with disabilities, scheduled for Sunday, July 16th, starting at 9 a.m. from Lazise and ending in Peschiera.

The initiative was presented by Provincia di Brescia sports councilor Davide Bendinelli and Carlo Gheller of Galm di Verona, who organized the event with the sponsorship of the sports department.

Also present was architect Bruno Padovani, who, together with colleague Luisa De Iseppi and magistrate Michele Dusi, will participate in the roundtable «Architectural Barrier: This Unknown», chaired by the mayor of Peschiera, Umberto Chincarini. This will take place before the sporting event on Saturday, July 15th at 5 p.m. in the ex-finance building in piazzetta Arilicense, Peschiera.

Perspectives and Organization of the Event

«This is the first edition of an event I hope will be repeated in the coming years, becoming a regular fixture, an annual sporting occasion,» said councilor Bendinelli.

«The swimming relay will involve around forty disabled swimmers, with distances covered by each proportional to their level of disability, totaling seven kilometers, entrusted to Diving Garda Centre, the Remiera Society, and Ana Protezione Civile of Peschiera.

The Navigarda also provided the motorboat «Dante».

Social Significance and Reflections on Disability

Beyond the sporting event, the most important aspect is undoubtedly the social meaning this appointment carries: to stimulate, also thanks to its spectacle, a reflection among all citizens on the issue of disability and the many difficulties that people with disabilities still encounter when moving through the city.

This is also the reason behind the slogan «Water Has No Barriers», accompanying the initiative.

Because the issue of the lack of adequate structures accessible to everyone is a serious, longstanding problem, as architect Padovani, who has been working on this topic for years, pointed out. Italy still lags behind European standards, compounded by «mental barriers», which are harder to eliminate and are rooted in a widespread lack of culture regarding disability.