British Swimming has announced it will reveal its roster for the 2024 World Championships on November 30th. Based on the organization’s selection policy, a maximum of 20 swimmers may be selected for the elite event based on performances from May 1st through August 30th of this year.
Noted on the policy is the fact that participation for athletes in individual events is entirely optional, perhaps playing into the disapproval by several key British athletes that the typically-biannual competition is set to end just 159 days before the opening of the Paris Olympic Games.
We reported in July of 2022 that Olympic medalist James Guy said he would not compete in Doha while Olympic teammate Duncan Scott also questioned the timing and whether swimmers were even considered in the decision to put the World Championships on the February calendar.
Nevertheless, consideration times have been set and, unlike the Olympic selection procedures, the times are not as stiff as British Swimming has been known to establish in the past. Athletes’ performances will be ranked based on their percentage inside the Table 1 time.
The selection policy’s goal is to send athletes to Doha who are on a trajectory for podium performance at the Paris 2024 or Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
For relay events, selections will be based on performances at the 2023 World Championships.
The priority for selections will be relays where no automatic Paris 2024 Olympic quota place has been secured (i.e. those Olympic relays that do not finish in the top 3 at the 2023 World Swimming Championships, Fukuoka, Japan). Up to six (6) athletes can be selected per relay team.
Great Britain missed the podium in the following relays in Fukuoka, meaning they’ll be given priority per the clause above:
- Men’s 4x100m free
- Men’s 4x100m medley
- Women’ 4x100m free
- Women’s 4x200m free
- Women’s 4x100m medley
- Mixed medley
At this year’s World Championships, Great Britain placed 5th in the overall swimming medal table, collecting 8 pieces of hardware.
Medals came from Matt Richards earning his first-ever individual world title in the men’s 200m free, while Tom Dean scored 200m free silver and 200m IM bronze.
Scott was the 200m IM silver medalist ahead of Dean while Ben Proud was the bronze medalist in the men’s 50m free.
Lauren Cox was the sole individual medalist for the women, landing on the 50m back podium in bronze.
The men’s 4x200m free relay earned gold while the mixed 4x100m free relay secured bronze.
Did they ever announce a team?
Duncat Scott implied in and Interview recently that he will be going to Worlds. Assume there is lots of pressure to send a decent men’s 4×100 free relay team after 2023 worlds.
He may as well swim indiviually then to get a pay day. There is quite a lot of prize money and significantly weakened fields.
The list of “World champions’ after Doha is going to a bit….random…to say the least!
Erika Fairweather should take the opportunity and become 400 free World Champion!