And we’re back! Many nations, mostly in Europe, have started training again and we have a whole lot of calendar changes.
Black Lives Matter
My heart hurts. Seeing the country that made me feel hopeful and at home for 10 years torn apart has brought so much sadness and anger. I stand in solidarity with the Black community and the fight against racial injustice. Everyone deserves the right to feel safe. I am aware that posting on social media is not enough. I am aware that our sport lacks inclusivity and that we truly have to work much harder to change that. But for now, it is important to not be bystanders and it is our responsibility to take real actions, to listen, to learn, to donate, and to seek understanding of this all to make a positive change.
COVID-19 Calendar Updates
This was all posted in the “Coronavirus Updates” article, but here are some of the major rescheduling events that occurred over these last few months:
- 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, are postponed to July 23 – August 8, 2021.
- 2021 FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, are postponed to May 2022.
- 2020 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, are postponed to May 10 – 23, 2021.
- 2020 Olympic Games Qualification Tournament in Tokyo, Japan, are postponed to March 4 – 7, 2021.
- 2020 Asian Swimming Championships in New Clark City, the Philippines, are postponed to November 2021.
- 2020 Junior European Championships in Malta and 2020 COMEN Cup in Greece are cancelled.
- 2020 FINA Junior World Championships in Quebec City, Canada, are postponed.
Coaches Shuffle
- USA Artistic Swimming has announced that it has parted ways with assistant coach Reem Abdalazem. The federation also specified that the coaching staff will remain as is for the foreseeable future with junior national team coaches assuming more formalized roles within the senior national team (read: Anna Voloshyna).
- The Swiss duet of Vivienne Koch and Joelle Peschl is now coached by Tania Rudkovskaya. The pair was previously working with Olympian Sascia Kraus.
Olympic Team Announcement
- This got kind of lost in the pandemic news, but China had announced its Olympic team… before the Olympics were postponed for a year. The athletes who made it are: Feng Yu, Guo Li, Huang Xuechen, Liang Xinping, Sun Wenyan, Wang Qianyi, Xiao Yanning, and Yin Chengxin. Chang Hao et Zhang Yayi were named as alternates. Guo, Huang, Liang, Sun and Yin are all returning Olympians from 2016, and this entire team competed at the 2019 FINA World Championships. It has not been confirmed yet if this selection will remain as is, or if the selection will be reopened due to the postponement of the Games.
Who Is Back?
- The following nations have all made it back to the pool in some capacity: Australia, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand. Russia is headed back to the pool next week.
John Legend Joins Team USA
- The U.S. Olympic hopeful duet of Anita Alvarez and Lindi Schroeder had a short cameo on the NBC show ‘The Voice,” where they try to teach singer John Legend some basic synchro moves. You can watch the full segment here.
Article by Christina Marmet