Last week, at an event with the president of the Catalan Swimming Federation (FCN), Enric Bertran; the president of the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation (RFEN), Fernando Carpena; the swimmer Gemma Mengual, and the fourth deputy mayor and head of Sports, Maite Fandos, the mascot that will represent the World Swimming Championships next year was presented.
Its name is ” Xop, ” a Catalan word meaning “soaked,” and its skin is inspired by traditional Gaudí mosaics , which are made up of different fragments of varied shapes and colors. The committee has described it as “a very Barcelonan and Mediterranean mascot that conveys the values of sport very well, especially among children.”
The mascot was designed by Albert Mir from Menorca and won a public competition organized by the Barcelona 2013 Organizing Committee, which received over two hundred entries. “I thought of a drop of water because it’s the main element of a water-based event, and Gaudí as Barcelona’s greatest architectural icon,” explains the winner.
At the next gala of the Catalan Swimming Federation we will be able to see Xop in his first public appearance.
