2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
- Budapest, Hungary
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Venezuela’s Alfonso Mestre and Italy’s Leonardo Deplano add to the growing list of swimmers who have had to withdraw from the upcoming FINA World Championships due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.
TeamMestre, the joint Instagram account for Alfonso and his twin brother Alberto Mestre, was the one to announce Alfonso’s diagnosis.
English Translation: “ALFONSO MESTRE WILL NOT BE PRESENT AT THE WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BUDAPEST- HUNGARY !! We regret to inform you that @alfonso_13 will be absent as he tested positive for COVID-19.”
Alfonso Mestre was set to compete in the men’s 200, 400, and 800 freestyle. He was seeded the highest in the 800 free, having the twelfth-fastest time in the field (7:50.81). Alberto, on the other hand, will still be competing as of now in the 50 and 100 free. The Mestres were two out of Venezuela’s four entries at Worlds, with the other two being Lismar Maurera (women’s 50 fly) and Otaiza Hernandez (men’s 100/200 fly).
Deplano’s withdrawal from Worlds was announced via an Italian Swimming Federation press release. He tested positive before the entire Italian team had left for Budapest, and was originally entered as the 16th seed in the men’s 50 free (21.87). In addition, he was also slated to swim on Italy’s 4×100 freestyle relay.
The Italian Swimming Federation also reported that Simone Cerasuolo, a close contact of Deplano, would undergo a second test on Friday as the test he received today had unclear results. Cerasuolo is seeded sixth in the men’s 50 breast with a time of 26.85.
All athletes, coaches, and media members are required by FINA to test negative for COVID-19 48 hours prior to arriving in Budapest. You can read FINA’s entire COVID protocol for World Championships here.
Mestre and Deplano are not the first athletes to have withdrawn from Worlds due to a COVID diagnosis, as just yesterday, South Africa’s Pieter Coetze did the same. In addition, Great Britain’s Duncan Scott also announced that he would be pulling out of Worlds due to post-COVID training struggles.
There’s this thing. Called a vaccine. It kinda works.
Except that it doesn’t
i’m vaxxed and boosted and covid still had me not feeling great. getting the vaccine doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t spread it either
Peru’s Joaquin Vargas is out as well
German swimmer Josha Salchow is also out of worlds according to Instagram
Any Americans?.
Not that we know of so far.
Withdrawal due to Covid is worth -5 points in the fantasy draft.
🙊🙈🙉