LEN, the European Swimming League (Ligue Européenne de Natation) announced on May 1 that it has decided to cancel the European Junior Championships in all aquatics disciplines for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision naturally and unsurprisingly affects artistic swimming, with its Junior European Championships originally scheduled for June 24 to 28 in Malta. Similarly, the swimming, diving, open water and U19 men and women water polo European Championships have all been cancelled.

In its press release and due to the exceptional circumstances, LEN also adds that the respective technical committees would evaluate the possibility of granting one extra year of eligibility in 2021 for athletes in their last year in the junior category in 2020.

The Bureau will also further evaluate in the next few weeks the possible dates for the 2020 European Aquatics Championships. They would have originally started in Budapest on May 11, but have since been postponed to the end of August, although that decision was made before the Olympics were officially pushed back by one year.

The only remaining junior international event for artistic swimming on the calendar is now the FINA Junior World Championships set for August 24 to 30 in Quebec City, Canada. As of now, it is maintained and no decision has been made regarding this competition.

Article by Christina Marmet

Cover photo by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia