The European Junior Championships will double the age range of athletes eligible for competition beginning in two years, according to the Hungarian swimming federation.
The Hungarian federation published a recap this week from a meeting of LEN, the European swimming federation, reporting that LEN has decided to expand the ages of athletes eligible to compete at the European Junior Championships.
The age range used to be 17-18 years old for boys and 15-16 years old for girls. LEN will broaden the standards to include boys aged 15-18 and girls from 14-17.
Those are the ages recognized by FINA, the governing body of swimming on the international stage, and so the decision standardizes the age window for European Juniors with other major international junior meets like Junior Pan Pacs and Junior Worlds.
The standards mostly change on the lower end, meaning the only real change is that swimmers who are fast enough to compete at Junior Euros but were too young under the old standards will now be allowed to compete. The only place where eligibility has been extended is on the girls side, where 17-year-old girls will now be allowed to compete.
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