The inaugural U23 European Swimming Championships will be open to non-European federations, LEN announced Thursday.
The competition, first announced in January, will take place August 10-13, 2023, in Dublin, and will be eligible to swimmers under the age of 23 by the end of the year. The championships serve the purpose of providing those on the cusp of making their country’s senior national ‘A’ team an international taper meet in the summer.
On Thursday, LEN announced that, in addition to European federations, the meet will be open to non-members, separated by continent.
Two teams from the PanAM continental association—one from North and one from South America—will be eligible to compete, along with one from Oceania, one from the Asia Swimming Federation (AASF), and one from the African Swimming Federation (CANA).
It’s unclear if each federation will send its own “all-star” team, or if one nation will field a team per continent.
“I think it’s a challenging competition, a new format, dynamic, with a lot of creativity,” said LEN President Antonio Silva.
“I think we can engage the athletes, mostly after junior age before the senior level in order to not abandon the competition and to move on in this direction and reach elite competition.”
The LEN also announced that the competition will be held once every two years, taking place either immediately prior to or following the World Aquatics Championships.
“It is seen as an additional competitive opportunity for athletes who have competed in LEN events but (who are) not able to qualify/compete at the FINA World Championships due to qualifying standards or lack of places within their Federation team,” an LEN spokesperson said when the meet was first announced.
In February, LEN Technical Swimming Committee chairman Craig Hunter said that the meet will run with a “semi-non-traditional” format related to its presentation, including some ISL-like elements.
The Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre, one of the world’s largest indoor aquatic centers, will host the event. It includes a 10-lane, 50-meter competition pool, a 25-meter diving and warmup pool, and seating for 2,500 spectators.
Where can we find the qualifying times?
Obviously, there’s a lot to clarify before this will work for USA swimmers.
But, Hey, THE MORE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE for Team USA, the better.
And LEN is obviously NOT afraid of good competitors, if they choose to use this meet as a transitional event.
Bravo!