PhD V.A. Fomin
International Council of Amateur Sports, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region

Keywords: amateur open water swimming competitions, online open water competitions.

Introduction.
Today, the integration of sports and computer technologies in amateur sports competitions has great potential for uniting an unlimited number of participants and increasing individual and social activity regardless of location. This is especially relevant in the context of pandemic-related and other restrictions.
Research aim: to justify the possibility of conducting amateur open water swimming competitions online using digital technologies.

Methodology and research organization.
Rules for online amateur open water swimming competitions using digital technologies were developed. Judges and technical specialists in computer technologies were trained to provide real-time communication with participants in Moscow, Belarus, and China using a specialized digital platform. The platform included features for submitting applications, real-time results, and streaming using the popular OBS Studio software.

Results and discussion.
Under the guidance of ICAS, the first international open water swimming competition between representatives of Russia, China, and Belarus was held on 17.07.2021, using digital technologies. The competitions took place in Moscow (White Lake), Grodno (rowing canal), and Shanghai, covering a distance of 3000 meters. The digital platform ICASGAMES.ORG was used, with real-time communication and information exchange facilitated by OBS Studio. Results were processed using the ICAS software.

Conclusions.
Amateur sports provide accessible and equal opportunities for all population groups. The use of digital technologies significantly expands the pool of participants, regardless of location, financial capabilities, etc.

References

1. Vitman, D. Y. (2018). Informatsionnyye tekhnologii, sredstva vizualizatsii v podgotovke sportsmenov [Information technologies and visualization tools in athlete training]. In Physical culture and sports in student life: Proceedings of the 4th International Scientific and Practical Conference (pp. 35–40). Omsk: Omsk State Technical University.