In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the German Swimming Association (DSV) has announced the cancellation of the 2020 German Youth Team Championships.
“This was the result of the intensive coordination discussions between the competitive sports department and competitive sports,” reads the statement on DSV’s website dated August 24th.
The annual Youth Team Championships is a relay-only competition, which presents unique challenges in the age of coronavirus restrictions. Social distancing is difficult to maintain in a relay environment, with the DSV decision on this competition falling in line with the omission of relays from the German Swimming Championships slated for October 29th – November 1st.
Germany is also not the only nation to exclude relays from its elite competition lineup, with Austria having excluded the squad-based events at its national championships earlier this month.
DSV Competitive Sports Director Thomas Kurschilgen said, “After we had to forego the relay competitions at the German Swimming Championships and the upcoming federal base competitions on the basis of our carefully worked out hygiene concepts, this approach to avoiding risks can of course also be used in other championship areas. The health of the athletes always comes first.”
Of note, Germany has qualified all of the men’s, women’s and mixed relay events by way of its top 12 finishes at the 2019 FINA World Aquatic Championships.
