FINA Confirms 7 Positive Tests for COVID; Nigerian Swimmers Question Protocols

FINA has confirmed positive tests for seven accredited participants at the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships this week in Abu Dhabi, specifically in testing that took place on December 15.

Those seven positive tests, though, have knocked a number of other athletes out of the event due to contact tracing protocols.

FINA’s statement, released on Thursday evening, says that individuals with positive COVID-19 protocols were “removed from the event and placed in strict quarantine.” For athletes, that means that they are eliminated from the meet.

All persons entering the UAE had to have a negative PCR test taken no more than 48 hours prior to arrival. Those entering the country had to subsequently produce a second negative PCR test result upon arrival. 

We know that at least four of those were athletes from Singapore, which in turn knocked the entire delegation out of the event. Those with positive tests are quarantined, while those with negative tests returned home to Singapore, according to a statement from the federation.

At least one of the individuals who has tested positive at the World Championships is an administrator from Nigeria, which has in turn knocked all four of Nigeria’s athletes out of the meet. One of those athletes, American-trained Philip Adejumo, told SwimSwam on Thursday that he had not had any contact with that individual, and even though he had tested negative several times since arriving in Abu Dhabi.

A FINA spokesperson declined to comment on the Nigeria situation specifically, saying that he had no knowledge about the claim. He did say that FINA was following the UAE’s contact tracing protocols.

Adejumo said that he asked FINA why he was contact traced when he had not seen the individual who has tested positive, he was told that everyone from Team Nigeria was added as a contact trace. Adejumo says that the individual tested positive and was quarantined before Adejumo even arrived in Abu Dhabi, making contact impossible.

Adejumo also says that he has been double vaccinated and received a booster dose as well.

“I was told that I’m unable to compete within 8 hours of arriving to Abu Dhabi, and that I was expected to isolate in my hotel room for 7 days,” Adejumo said.

Adejumo says that two other athletes that are part of the delegation saw the person who tested positive “briefly,” and one flew to Abu Dhabi with him. Adejumo says that he did see the other athletes in the 8 hours between his arrival and his isolation, but that none of them have tested positive, and that he believes that if this is the definition of contact tracing (which FINA has not confirmed to Adejumo or SwimSwam), that it is not being applied consistently across nations.

While FINA has not publicized a complete protocol for the World Championships, at the World Cup, the protocol said that if a delegation had 3 or more cases, the entire delegation would be pulled from the event. That would apply in the case of Singapore, but not in the case of Nigeria.

We also know that British Olympic gold medalist Tom Dean has been pulled from the meet for contact tracing of having close contact with an individual who tested positive, but unlike in the case of Team Nigeria, the entire British delegation was not withdrawn from the meet – Duncan Scott is still racing the 200 free final on Friday.

Adejumo was the 16th seed entering the meet in the men’s 100 fly, which was Nigeria’s highest pre-meet seed.

Outside of the pool, Adejumo, who swam collegiately at UMBC, is an MD and PhD candidate at Yale University School of Medicine. He spent the last 2 years as a researcher at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and before that at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, where he worked in health informatics.

Full FINA Statement is Below

16 December 2021; ABU DHABI (UAE) – On 15 December, seven accredited participants at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) tested positive for COVID-19.

Following the FINA COVID-19 event protocols and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Department of Health (DOH) rules, the accredited participants with positive COVID-19 results were removed from the event and placed in strict quarantine. 

According to DOH protocols, athletes positive with COVID-19 will not have the opportunity to compete at the FINA World Swimming Championships and the FINA Aquatics Festival in Abu Dhabi. 

All persons entering the UAE had to have a negative PCR test taken no more than 48 hours prior to arrival. Those entering the country had to subsequently produce a second negative PCR test result upon arrival. 

The competition and training venues used in the FINA competitions have implemented strict health and safety rules, including vaccination and PCR test requirements, health screenings, mandatory face mask use and rigorous sanitation measures.  Safety remains our priority.

The 15th FINA World Swimming Championships run from 16-21 December. The FINA Aquatics Festival runs from 15-20 December with the Aquatics disciplines of Diving, High Diving and Open Water Swimming.