Netherlands Not Sending Swimmers To 2024 European Championships

2024 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 10th – June 23rd
• Belgrade, Serbia
• LCM (50m)

As revealed in December 2023, Belgrade, Serbia will be hosting the 2024 European Championships slated for June 10th through June 23rd. This timeframe slots the multi-sport competition just over one month out from this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.

The timeline is much the same as it was in 2021, where the European Championships from 2020 were postponed to 2021, taking place just months before the also-postponed Olympic Games in Tokyo.

To many athletes, the European Championships represent a pre-Games competitive opportunity for swimmers to fine-tune their craft ahead of Paris.

That will not be the case for Dutch swimmers, however, as the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB) revealed it would not officially be sending a squad to Belgrade.

The statement on the official KNZB website reads, “The main reason [for not sending an official squad] is the overcrowded calendar in 2024, with the peak moments being the Long Course World Championships (in February in Doha), the Paris Olympic Games in the summer and the Short Course World Championships (December in Budapest).” (KNZB)

Sjors Lommerts, technical director of competitive swimming, commented, “Because it was unclear for a long time whether the European Championships would still be held in 2024, as well as where and when, the coaches of the top swimmers no longer took this into account in their planning on the way to the Olympic Games.

“This means that we have already chosen the period April-June for other competition incentives, including the Mare Nostrum Tour in Canet, Barcelona and Monaco, our own Eindhoven Qualification Meet (EQM), the National Championships in Amersfoort and the famous ‘Sette Colli’ in Italy.

“These are all about the preparation for Paris and we – like many top swimmers from other countries – prefer to participate in these competitions instead of the European Championships in Belgrade.” (KNZB)

Aschwin Lankwarden, general director of the KNZB, further explained, “Due to the corona period, some postponed title tournaments had to play ‘catch up’, with the result that two World Championships, one European Championship and an Olympic Games now all organized in one calendar year in 2024.

“Normally you want our top athletes to always be able to participate in all title tournaments: European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games. But apart from the technical sporting considerations, the financial challenge for 2024 is simply too great to participate in the European Championships.” (KNZB)

29-year-old Kira Toussaint of the Netherlands expressed her disappointment in the decision.

“I really wanted to swim in the European Championships, because it is a title tournament, but unfortunately that is not allowed,” she told NOS Sports this week.

“At a European Championships, there is prize money attached to a medal, and great honor. For sponsors, a medal at a European Championships is also more interesting. I hope it is possible to be invited by the European Swimming Federation in a personal capacity, but the KNZB has to approve that.”

Toussaint’s reference is akin to what World Aquatics (then FINA) did for Brazilian sprinter Nicholas Santos.

Despite not having qualified for his nation’s official squad for the 2019 World Championships, World Aquatics issued a special invitation to the World Record holder for him to race in the 50m fly as a then-39-year-old.

In the event Toussaint doesn’t receive a special invitation, the Dutch squad is approved to race at the Spanish Championships/Olympic Trials on the docket for June.

Toussaint is an 8-time European Long Course Championships medalist whose resume includes a 50m back gold from 2020 in Budapest and a 4x100m mixed medley relay gold from 2022 in Rome.