Slovenia Nails Olympic Qualification in Women’s 400 Free Relay in Last-Ditch Bid

2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 11th – February 18th
• Doha, Qatar
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With the conclusion of the women’s 400 free relay final on Sunday in Doha, the 16 qualifiers for the Olympic Games are set.

• See also: Britain, Greece, Sweden Lock in Olympic Qualifications in Men’s 400 Free

The only thing outstanding heading into the final was whether or not Slovenia could jump ahead of Brazil to grab the 16th spot. They swam 3:41.72 to jump just-ahead of Ireland and secure their spot at the Olympic Games – beating out Ireland’s 3:41.75 from the 2023 World Championships.

Splits:

• Neza Klancar – 55.15
• Janja Segel – 54.78
• Katja Fain – 55.75
• Hana Sekuti – 56.04

If they decide to swim the event, it would be their first Olympic swimming relay for any gender since the women’s relay (including Sara Isakovic) finished 14th at the 2012 Olympics.

The Slovenian Record in this event was done in 2022 at the Mediterranean Games, where they swam 3:38.52 – which would put them within range of a final in Paris. That relay had three of the same for relays, but was anchored by Tjasa Pinter. While Pinter was the slowest split of that record-setting relay, she did bring a needed depth to this team on the 4th leg.

At the top of the table, it’s the Australians that take the status of favorite (and it’s not that close) into the Paris Olympic Games, with the US and China battling for silver. Canada could get in that mix – but probably only if Penny Oleksiak shows a form that hasn’t been visible for years.

RELAY SELECTION PROCEDURE (IN BRIEF)

The top 3 finishing relays from the 2023 World Championships automatically qualified. The next 13 slots come from the best times among the combination of heats and finals at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships.

Because all of the finalists for 2024 Worlds are in the top 16 relay, the finals tonight won’t impact selections (though it may impact seedings). That means the field is set, pending countries declining their selections.

Their is no host country automatic allocation for the Olympics and France is already qualified thanks to their time from 2023 Worlds. Unlike in past years, there is no “free-for-all” best times in the qualifying period to worry about, so the field should be set at this point, with the exception of any scratches.

Poland also moved into the qualifiers in Sunday’s prelims after not swimming this race at the World Championships last year.

2024 Paris Olympic Qualifiers – Women’s 400 free relay