LEN Unveils Names of 36 Countries Entered in U23 Championships

LEN, the governing body for aquatic sports in Europe, has shared with SwimSwam the 36 first European nations that have entered teams for the inaugural U23 European Swimming Championships this summer.

Earlier this week, LEN said that 412 athletes from 36 countries were entered in the meet by the early registration deadline. While LEN didn’t have the list of athletes entered (in many cases, like the USA, the teams haven’t been chosen yet), they do have an estimated team size from all 36 countries.

35 of the federations entered so far are European. With 51 total federations in LEN, that means at least 69% of LEN members have committed to the meet.

For the first edition, LEN is allowing one nation from four other continents participate. The United States will represent North America, while the list so far doesn’t include the countries from South America, Africa, or Asia.

Among the nations that usually medal at European meets who are absent include Russia (not unexpected), Ukraine, Belgium, and Israel.

Other federations missing from the initial list are Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and San Marino.

The meet will take place in Dublin from August 11-13, 2023.

A total of €5,000 ($5,454) in prize money will be awarded with half going to the top male performance and half going to the top female performances of the meet by the World Aquatics points system. The event will include the full World Championship schedule for individual events, two relays (the mixed 400 free and mixed 400 medley), and a special 50 free ‘skins’ event where the field will be whittled after each round until a head-to-head finish is all that remains.