USA Swimming has announced the selection criteria for the 2019 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships which will take place in Budapest, Hungary from August 20-25, 2019.
The team will be made up of up to 26 male swimmers who will be between the ages of 15-18 as of December 31, 2019 (e.g., born 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004) and with 26 female swimmers between the ages of 14-17 as of December 31, 2019, (e.g., born in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005), as per FINA rules.
As we reported in January, the qualifying meet for World Juniors will be the 2019 Phillips 66 Nationals in Palo Alto, CA from July 31st-August 4th, 2019.
- Priority #1. The first priority will be comprised of (i) the first placing Available Swimmer based on the final results swum at the Qualifying Competition in each Event other than the 100 and 200 freestyle; and (ii) the four best placing Available Swimmers based on the final results swum at the Qualifying Competition in the 100 and 200 freestyle.
- Priority #2. The second priority will be the second placing Available Swimmer based on the final results swum at the Qualifying Competition in each Event, except in the 100 and 200 freestyle.
- Priority #3. The third priority will be the fifth placing Available Swimmer based on the final results swum at the Qualifying Competition in the 100 Freestyle.
- Available Swimmers finishing below the sixth placing Available Swimmer at the Qualifying Competition cannot be considered for Selection to the Team (example: if an athlete is the 7th placing Available Swimmer in an Event and they meet the above criteria, they will not be eligible for selection to the team), with the exception of the 100 and 200 freestyle Events; up to and including the 8th placing Available Swimmer from the Qualifying Competition in the 100 and 200 freestyle events will be eligible for Selection to the Team.
[Note: Often, junior swimmers finishing within a higher spot at the qualifying meet will turn down an offer to swim with the Junior World Championship team in order to accept a position on a Senior National team. This is why USA Swimming specifies the procedures for not selecting an Available Swimmer below a sixth place finish for all events beside the 100 and 200 freestyles, which allows up to an eighth-place finish. The “sixth” and “eighth” place finishes don’t reflect sixth or eighth overall at the meet, but sixth and eighth among eligible swimmers for the competition.]
If the above selection criteria yield more than 26 male swimmers or 26 female swimmers, then the swimmers of that gender will be ranked and selected using the following criteria:
All swimmers who qualify through Priority #1 will be selected.
If the team is not full by that point, all priority #2 swimmers will be named to the team. If adding swimmers through Priority #2 leads to an excess of 26 athletes, those with the highest Modified World Ranking in the event for which they qualify will be selected.
If after all Priority #1 and Priority #2 swimmers have been selected and there are still spots available, then the Priority #3 swimmer will be selected. But if adding the Priority #3 swimmer would result in more than 26 swimmers for a gender, then the swimmer will not be selected.
The selection documents don’t explicitly exclude any athletes who are on other senior teams for 2019 (World Championships, Pan Ams, or WUGs). The World Championships end in South Korea 3 days before the start of the selection meet for World Juniors, while Pan Ams and WUGs don’t have any overlaps with Nationals.
To see the document outlining all selection criteria click here.
🗣️🚨 @katz_austin wants you to know:
2⃣0⃣1⃣9⃣
🌎JRs Selection Procedures
NOW POSTED
👉🏼 https://t.co/kIoIWI7gJ6📍#Phillips66Nats = Selection Meet
Max. Team Size: 2⃣6⃣
Priority #1:🔝4⃣ in 100/200 Fr
Priority #2:2⃣nd in Indv. Olymp Events
Priority #3:5⃣th Place in the 100 Fr pic.twitter.com/jHvjwudCNV— Mitch Dalton (@MitchDaltonNJT) February 12, 2019
At the 2017 World Junior Championships, the US came away with the medals table lead, earning 11 gold, 12 silver, and 7 bronze medals. The Americans’ 30 total medals almost doubled that of the next closest competitors (Japan and Hungary each had 16). The US hosted that meet in Indianapolis after Budapest withdrew to fill in as host for the 2017 World Championships.
Doesn’t seem right that those who are under the age of 18 that are on a “senior” level national team would be allowed to compete at a “junior” meet. Need to give the other almost as talented swimmers the chance to compete on an international level.
That’s ridiculous… let the best of the best race. Is a World Jr Championship medal still valued if the athletes knew they only won because the best 18 & under athletes aren’t allowed to compete? If it’s important to them, the best athletes will find a way to compete, regardless of their seed time coming into the meet.
Should everybody get a trophy as well?
1. Have a first name of Luca
2. Have a last name of Urlando
So can people who have qualified for Worlds also technically go to World Jrs?