Russian swimmers Vlad Morozov and Yulia Efimova both plan to fly to Kazan, Russia to compete in the Russian Olympic Trials that begin on April 3, according to Russian state-run RIA Novosti.
“We are not discussing any ‘remote’ selection,” said Russian National Team head coach Sergei Chepik. “We will have a qualifying championship of Russia, for which Morozov and Efimova are going to fly in.”
This will make Russia one of the few nations that will stick with a one-shot Olympic qualifying event.
Morozov and Efimova, the two Russian swimmers with the most international name recognition, both train in the United States in the Los Angeles area. Both are currently registered members of Irvine Novaquatics – the Dave Salo-affiliated USA Swimming club team.
Morozov hasn’t raced since the International Swimming League season, where he represented the Tokyo Frog Kings, and has no official long course results since January 2020 at the FINA Champions Series – prior to the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Efimova, who is ineligible for ISL competition because of past anti-doping infractions, raced at a primarily-age-group meet earlier this month. That was her first official racing since the 2019 World Championships. There she swam 59.46 in the 100 yard breaststroke and 2:07.53 in the 200 yard breaststroke.
Russia has instituted special rules because of the pandemic allowing certain elite competitors to receive waivers to ender the Olympic Trials even without meeting the qualification standards.
Morozov’s last meet on Russian soil was the FINA World Cup series stop in November 2019, and Efimova’s last meet on Russian soil was the 2019 World Championship Trials in April of that year. She reported the desire to race at Russia’s National Championships in the fall, but cited travel restrictions as making that impossible.
Meanwhile, Chepik says that the All-Russia Swimming Federation is “not in a hurry” for its athletes to receive vaccinations because of the upcoming selection meets.
“We are not in a hurry to start vaccinations because we will soon have an Olympic selection,” Chepik said in light of the dominant Russian synchronized swimming team beginning to receive vaccines. “Now is not the best time to do it. After the selection, we will see how and what we will do. The European Championships are upcoming, so there is no sense in rushing with this yet.”
Countries around the world have grappled with when to prioritize Olympic athletes in their vaccination programs. A positive test at the Olympic Games would result in immediate expulsion from the event, though the IOC is not yet requiring vaccinations.
What do you see Morozov capable of in the 50free in Tokyo? Could he be a dark horse or has he seen his best days?
Why do we train these Russian swimmers who are trying to beat the USA??
Because international cooperation will always be more important than Olympic medals.
Because you don’t become fast in sports by being secretive about your training methods. Every decent athlete has something to learn from (and something to share with) an other one. An athlete’s goal isn’t to beat an other country, that’s politics and it’s ruining the whole game for everyone.
Where do you think institutionalized doping comes from primarly ? It comes from a government wanting their country to better others, and being willing to risk it’s athletes’ health and well-being.
Excessive patriotism like yours has nothing to do in a healthy competition spirit. US coaches and swimmers aren’t good because they train like they’re in the Cold War, they’re good because they have a good recrutement method, because they… Read more »
Because try as they might, they don’t.
Makes sense: easy access to vials and return of blood samples though that hole in the wall…. otherwise it’s all the work of winking, nodding and hush-hushing with Coach Salo.