As part of the world at large, the swimming community near and far has been severely impacted by the unfolding of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We have seen unprecedented scores of meets and events cancelled or postponed, which would wreak havoc at any time, but especially in the context of entering the final months to qualify for a Summer Olympic Games.
We have kept up with the Olympic-qualifying meet changes as we know them to be, understanding that contingency plans are still being decided and potential alternative routes to Tokyo selection are being paved. In the meantime, however, we wanted to condense the changes as we understand them to keep readers abreast of what the next few weeks may look like swimming competition-wise.
Nations With NO Olympic Trials Changes As Far As We Know
*In alphabetical order; latest updates hyperlinked within text
- Australian Olympic Trials still on schedule for June 14-19
- Update March 23: AOC & Swimming AUS say they cannot field teams for July 2020 Olympic Games
- Belarusian Nationals still on schedule for May 22-24
- Belgian Open Nationals still on schedule for May 21-23
- Greek Olympic Trials still on schedule for May 28-31
- Swedish Championships still on schedule for June 26-30
- United State Olympic Trials still on schedule for June 21-28
Nations With Olympic Trials CHANGES
- Canadian Olympic Trials will be postponed or cancelled, depending on what happens with the coronavirus.
- Update March 23: Canadian Olympic Committee confirms nation will not participate in July 2020 Olympic Games
- Chinese Nationals – NEW Dates of May 10-16
- French Elite National Championships – NEW Dates of June 23-29
- New Zealand has postponed their Olympic Trials, likely until June.
- New Zealand is attempting to add a late-March time trial for their “long list” athletes to hit Olympic standards.
- Russian Nationals have been postponed indefinitely.
- South African National Championships – NEW Dates of June 21-26
Nations with Olympic Trials CANCELLATIONS
- Brazilian Trials
- British Swimming Championships
- Czech Republic Grand Prix Ostrava
- Danish Open Cancelled
- Dutch: Both Swim Cups (The Hague, Eindhoven)
- German Nationals
- Hungarian Olympic Trials
- Irish Open Championships
- Italian Absolute Championships
- Japan Swim
- Lithuanian Championships
- Nordic Swim Tour
- Polish Nationals
- Serbian Open
- South African National Championship
- South American Championships
- Spanish Olympic Trials
- Swiss Olympic Trials
Australian events are held in Adelaide(South Australia) which has closed its borders to all the other states. i don’t think this will be going ahead. Australian prime minister imposed an Australian six month travel ban to all Australians last night. The Olympics are off for us.
South African Nationals / Olympic Trials have been postponed for now and no longer take place 4 to 9 April
This doesn’t seem to have been kept fully up to date. South African Nationals from 4-9 are on hold.
Heck, I’ve used 4 different freestyle strokes over the course of a single 200.
Easy Speed
Burn mode
Piano
Double piano
Nz Olympic trials are going ahead with no spectatora now. However this could change if NZ govt bans large events.
Captain Sós and the Hungarian Swimming Association has plans on how to held the Championships (of course no spectator, limited number of athletes, possible change of venue). The plans are still to be discussed with clubs and epidemology experts. Decision is expected in one or two days.
The Bahamas has not changed theirs yet. It is in June. International travel to meets is cancelled for National Sports teams for now but not that meet as things may change by then.
If test competitions cannot be considered then the best option is the qualifying table based qualification. It is also fairer than the test competitions, and the best and highest-ranking athletes are accessing Tokyo. Just like in Estonia or Finland where 2 A standard is available. If they are more like the Us comes the game ranking.