New Zealand Publishes World Short Course Selection Criteria

Swimming New Zealand has published it’s selection criteria for the 2014 World Short Course Championships which will run from December 3rd-7th in Doha. At the last World Short Course Championships the Kiwis brought a team of  six swimmers that consisted of:

• Lauren Boyle
• Melissa Ingram
• Ewan Jackson
• Corey Main
• Cameron Simpson
• Matthew Stanley

At those championships the team won three medals, one gold and two bronze. Lauren Boyle grabbed the gold the women’s 800 freestyle in a new Oceanic record time of 8:08.62. Boyle also collected the bronze in the women’s 400 freestyle posting a time of 4:01.24. The second bronze medal was won by Matthew Stanley who finished third in the 400 freestyle posting a time of 3:41.01.

Boyle has made significant improvements since that time in the 25 meter tank, finishing the 2013 short course season ranked second in the world in both the 400 and 800 freestyle, posting lifetime bests of 3:57.68 and 8:06.15.

The Kiwis will have two significant international championships before Doha, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships. Individual medallist in Olympic events from either of these competitions will automatically qualify for the 2014 World Short Course Championships.

The qualifying meet for this event will be the 2014 New Zealand Open Short Course Championships which will run from September 2nd-6th in Wellington.

To qualify for the 2014 World Short Course Championships athletes must meet the standards posted below:

There will only be two swimmers selected per event and relays will be selected from the athletes who have qualified for the team in individual events.

Even if the athletes make the team they are not assured of the trip being fully funded. To get full funding for the competition in Doha an athlete must finish in the top eight in an Olympic event.

Selection Criteria Notes:

5. The 2014 World Short Course Championships will be funded based on the athletes best event placing (based on final competition results) at the Competition as follows;

• Athletes who finish in the top 8 (Individual Olympic Events) will be fully funded.
• Athletes who finish 9 to 16 (Individual Olympic events) will be partially funded.
• Athletes who finish 17 or below (Individual Olympic Events) will not be eligible for any SNZ funding.

6. SNZ will pay for the cost of the full trip for all of those selected and then based on the results from the World Short Course Championships (as per note 5 above); the athletes will be invoiced for their respective cost (if applicable) based on their best event ranking.

The full document can be found here