Swaythling Club Newsletter No.2 December 2023

NEWSLETTER https://swaythlingclub.com

No.2

December 2023

World Health Festival Staged from Wednesday 1st to Sunday 5th November in Heraklion, Crete, the Swaythling Club International supported the inaugural World Health Festival.

“The main objective of the Swaythling Club International since its creation in 1967 is to help others; as it is difficult to help people individually, we decided to financially help research concerning diseases such as Alzheimer ‘s and Parkinson’s. The opportunity was presented thanks to the efforts of the ITTF Foundation.” Claude Bergeret, Swaythling Club President.

Founder member of the Swaythling Club in 1967, the most senior member of all, Ireland’s Joe Veselsky celebrated his 105th birthday on Friday 20th October. Joe Hickey left and Hans Westling right were both present for the occasion.

An interview conducted by Joe Hickey will be published in edition no.114 of the Swaythling magazine.

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Winner of five World Championship titles, inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 1995, Ella Zeller Constantinescu, celebrated her 90th birthday on Sunday 26th November.

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On Wednesday 28th June, Don and Jill Parker met Alan Hydes for a most convivial lunch.

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European Veteran Championships On Tuesday 17th June, a total of 25 members attended the Swaythling Club reception at the sky bar of the Oslofjord hotel in Sandefjord, a tournament in which Niels Ramberg has been ever present and leads the all-time list with a staggering total of 31 medals.

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All smiles at the 2023 European Veteran Championships from Zdenko Kriz left and right Reto Bazzi.

Later at the ITTF Board of Directors meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday 23rd August, Zdenko Kriz was elected Honorary Life Member of the International Table Tennis Federation.

An article featuring Niels Ramberg will appear in a future edition of the Swaythling magazine.

Alan Hydes left and right Harvey Webb stand alongside Bi Haibo, Minister Counsellor, at a reception held on Wednesday 25th September to mark the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

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Gizella Zacher is very much the pride of the 16-member strong Hungarian branch of the Swaythling Club International; she won gold in women’s singles 75 years at both the World and European Veteran Championships.

Welcome New members since Thursday 1st June 2023 Otilia Badescu (Romania) Jan Berner (Norway) Stefano Bosi (Italy) Geovanny Coello (Ecuador) Steve Dainton (Australia) Ian Harrison (England) Stefan Fegerl (Austria) Andras Fejer-Konnert (Romania) Jorge Herrera (Guatemala) Patricia Hunter (Ireland) Harald Meland (Norway) Tommy Schierning (Norway) Werner Schlager (Austria)

We Remember Members who have passed away since Thursday 1st June 2023 Matthias Gantner (Germany) Diane Schöler (Germany) Anton Lehman (Switzerland) Milena Zizkova-Polackova (Czech Republic)

ITTF President

In addition we mourn the passing of former members of the Swaythling Club International.

On Tuesday 17th October at the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session held in Mumbai, India, Petra Sörling, President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), was elected as a Member of the IOC.

Ilona Kerekes (Hungary) Dieter Steffen (Germany)

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A tribute to Diane Schöler, President of the Swaythling Club International from 1997 to 2013 appears on pages 44-47 of the Swaythling magazine no.113, October 2023.

Publication The Newsletter is published in June and December

Contact: Executive Committee President: Claude Bergeret Deputy President: Reto Bazzi Secretary: Harvey Webb Treasurer: Richard Scruton

Teresia Földy, Thomas Sadecky, Thomas Busin, Reto Bazzi and Claude Diethelm in high spirits following the Annual General Meeting of the Swiss Swaythling Club branch at Wettingen near Zurich on Saturday 25th November 2023.

Committee Members: Lilamani de Soysa Zdenko Kriz Gloria Wagener NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2023 2

Financial Statement - Richard Scruton At the May 2023 Annual General Meeting I reported that our bankers Credit Suisse had fully closed our cash accounts with effect January 2023 having given us notice a few weeks earlier.

This action by Credit Suisse has caused severe problems throughout 2023. We have been unable to make transactions or to receive monies such as membership fees for 2023.

We made applications for a new account to banks in Switzerland, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom but were rejected on each occasion. Eventually we were informed that banks perceive the Swaythling Club International as a Politically Exposed applicant due to our close link to an International Sport Federation which necessitates significant and increased controlling and compliance work for the bank.

We have recently applied again to a leading Swiss bank; we have been interviewed, presented our passports and all SCI documents, and completed the necessary application documents at a face to face meeting in Lausanne and we wait to hear if our application has been successful.

We have also visited Credit Suisse at Lausanne and have completed the documentation for the transfer of our funds.

Please accept our apologies for this situation and we very much hope to be able to inform you of our new banking arrangements shortly.