The German Swimming Federation (DSV) has announced that they are requesting that the 2021 World Championships be postponed until the summer of 2022. This comes on the heels of the International Olympic Committee’s announcement that the 2020 Olympic Games would be rescheduled for 2021.
Currently the World Championships are slated to be held next summer between July 16th and August 1st in Fukuoka, Japan. The rescheduled dates for the Olympics currently are set for July 23rd to August 8th, closely mirroring the original plans of a July 24th start date this summer.
Germany is not the first swimming federation to request a postponement of the World Championships. Canada has already asked that the meet be postponed until the following year. While this would avoid conflict with the Olympic Games, Canada is also currently slated to host the Pan Pacific Championships in 2022. This would pose a potential scheduling conflict should the World Championships be delayed a year.
Thomas Kurschilgen, director of the DSV, said that, “We consider it an unmanageable challenge to compete twice on the world scale in one year.” He also went on to comment on the economic toll that competing in both of these meet would have on the federation.
“In addition to the additional stress placed on the athletes, the further economic burdens on the national federations must be taken into account. It would further strain the federal budget. It should also be considered whether a World Championship meet in an Olympic year still has the appropriate radiance”
FINA has already announced they will be meeting with the organizers of the World Championships in order to potentially revise the dates originally decided upon. They also intend to meet with the athletes, coaches, national federations, and sponsors in order to arrive upon the decision best suited for all parties involved.
This is a no-brainer. Holding the Worlds in the same year as the Olympics would completely undermine the prestige of the event. Plus, the Worlds has a lot of events that have to be held outdoors, which means you can’t push it to, say, December. You could hold the Euros, Commonwealths, or Pan-Pacs in the same year at the Worlds; all great meets but still secondary.